Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T17:32:30.645Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A note on the growth and food consumption of crossbred lambs of five sire breeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. A. Woolliams  and
G. Wiener
J. A. Woolliams
Affiliation:
ARC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
G. Wiener
Affiliation:
ARC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
Get access

Abstract

Lambs, 8 weeks of age, the offspring of sires of the Scottish Blackface, East Friesland, Finnish Landrace, Suffolk and Texel breeds mated to Scottish Blackface females as a common maternal breed were fed ad libitum on a concentrate containing barley and fish meal for 14 weeks. Live weight and food intake were measured at intervals of 2 weeks.

Live-weight gain varied between sire breeds, Suffolk crosses having the greatest growth rate and the Blackface lambs the least, but there were no significant differences in their food conversion ratios. Food intakes were compared with those predicted by two methods. When the only criteria for prediction were live weight and the metabolizability of the diet the prediction was poor, whereas very accurate agreement was found when the criteria for prediction included consideration of the changes in energy efficiency with food intake and with maturity.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , August 1983 , pp. 137 - 140
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The Nutrient Requirements of Ruminant Livestock. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux. Slough.Google Scholar
Animal Breeding Research Organisation. 1975. A Note on the A.B.R.O. Experiments Evaluating Six Sire Breeds for Lowland Slaughter Lamb Production. Animal Breeding Research Organisation. Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Latif, M. G. A. and Owen, E. 1980. A note on the growth performance and carcass composition of Texeland Suffolk-sired lambs in an intensive feeding system. Anim. Prod. 30: 311–314.Google Scholar
Moxon, A. L. and Mahan, D. D. 1981. Toxic dietary selenium levels for weaning swine. Proc. 4th int. Symp. on Trace Element Metabolism in Man and Animals, Canberra, pp. 471–474. Australian Academy of Science, Canberra.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woolliams, J. A., Suttle, N. F., Wlener, G., Fleld, A. C. and Woolliams, Carol. 1982. The effect of breed of sire on the accumulation of copper in lambs with particular reference to copper toxicity. Anim. Prod. 35: 299–307.Google Scholar