Research@Lincoln
    • Login
     
    View Item 
    •   Research@Lincoln Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • Theses and Dissertations with Restricted Access
    • View Item
    •   Research@Lincoln Home
    • Theses and Dissertations
    • Theses and Dissertations with Restricted Access
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    The effects of pregnancy nutrition and shearing on lamb birth weight in highly fecund Booroola-merino cross sheep

    Orleans-Pobee, John
    Abstract
    The effects of ewe nutrition, live-weight change and shearing during pregnancy on lamb birth weight were studied using highly fecund Booroola-Merino cross Coopworth ewes. They were allocated to a high (H) or low (L) early pregnancy (0-49 days) nutrition treatment aimed at offering sufficient feed to increase their average live weight by 3 and 0kg respectively. Each of the 2 ewe groups was subsequently subdivided and allocated to one of 2 mid-pregnancy (50-98 days) nutrition treatments (H,L) in which target body-weight changes were the same as for the early pregnancy period. One hundred and nineteen days after mating, half of the ewes in each of the 4 nutritional subgroups were shorn and fed to the estimated metabolizable energy (ME) requirement of unshorn ewes. Two hundred and twenty-one lambs born to 102 ewes conceiving at a synchronized oestrus and 152 lambs from 58 ewes which conceived at the next oestrus were weighed within 12 hours of birth. The high level of nutrition of ewes in early pregnancy was associated with higher mean birth weight of lambs. Change in lamb birth weight per unit change in ewe live weight during this period was 46gkg-1 (±17) and 76gkg-1 (±34) for early- and late- lambing groups respectively (p<0.05). Ewe live-weight change in mid pregnancy did not significantly affect lamb birth weight (p>0.05). Shearing of ewes at 119 days post-mating increased lamb birth weight (p<0.05) in the late-lambing group of ewes but the increase was not statistically significant (p>0.05) in the early-lambing group. It is concluded that in highly fecund sheep, lamb birth weight is affected by ewe nutrition in early pregnancy and that nutrition levels which cause a loss of ewe live weight immediately after mating are detrimental to lamb birth weight.... [Show full abstract]
    Keywords
    pregnancy nutrition; ewes; sheep; fecundity; shearing; lamb birth weight; live weight; Booroola-Merino; condition score; embryo; flushing; cotyledon
    Fields of Research
    070204 Animal Nutrition; 070201 Animal Breeding
    Date
    1989
    Type
    Thesis
    Access Rights
    Digital thesis can be viewed by current staff and students of Lincoln University only. If you are the author of this item, please contact us if you wish to discuss making the full text publicly available.
    Collections
    • Theses and Dissertations with Restricted Access [2368]
    • Department of Agricultural Sciences [1572]
    View/Open
    Staff/student login to read
    Share this

    on Twitter on Facebook on LinkedIn on Reddit on Tumblr by Email

    Metadata
     Expand record
    This service is maintained by Learning, Teaching and Library
    • Archive Policy
    • Copyright and Reuse
    • Deposit Guidelines and FAQ
    • Contact Us
     

     

    Browse

    All of Research@LincolnCommunities & CollectionsTitlesAuthorsKeywordsBy Issue DateThis CollectionTitlesAuthorsKeywordsBy Issue Date

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics
    This service is maintained by Learning, Teaching and Library
    • Archive Policy
    • Copyright and Reuse
    • Deposit Guidelines and FAQ
    • Contact Us