Including alternative forages with perennial ryegrass during reseeding had no beneficial effects on lamb performance.
Supplementing ewes with crude fish oil during mid and late pregnancy has limited benefits for lamb viability and weaned lamb output, irrespective of the timing or duration of the supplementation period.
Continuous monitoring of physiological variables in ‘real’ animal production and transport conditions is an essential tool for assessing physiological stress and welfare.
Shelly hoof is the most significant problem for the majority of the flocks recorded, although the extent to which it causes lameness is not known.
Suffolk lambs grow faster than Texel lambs when parasite infection is minimised. And the interaction between breed and level of parasite challenge shows that the breed differences in lamb growth depend on level of parasite challenge.
Grazing lambs on chicory produces heavier carcases with a better killing out percentage. Female lambs also demonstrated increased loin juiciness.
High quality maize silage is an ideal forage for finishing lambs indoors, achieving higher intake characteristics and increasing daily live weight gain by up to 50g/d compared to lambs offered medium-quality grass silage.
Dietary vitamin E level did not affect lamb performance, but those fed grass silage grew more slowly and had a higher feed conversion ratio than those fed concentrates.
Computer tomography and ultrasonic measurements provide an effective means of selecting for improved carcass composition.
There is seasonal variation in the concentration of a number of fatty acids in lamb produced under a range of commercial production systems.
