The effects of three diets on the performance and carcass quality of lambs of the Makui and Moghani breeds of sheep were studied. Thirty-two Makui and 33 Moghani lambs, 6 to 7 mo of age, were kept on feedlots and given three diets for 77 days. The diets each contained a barley, alfalfa meal and corn silage base plus different levels of urea, molasses and dried beet pulp.

The average daily live-weight gains (ADG) of lambs fed on diets I (no urea), II (0·8% urea) and III (1·4% urea) were 218, 208 and 204 g respectively, while feed conversion ratios (FCR) were 6·3, 6·6 and 6·8 respectively. The overall ADG for Makui and Moghani lambs were 213·6 and 206·6 g respectively and the FCR were 6·4 and 6·9 respectively. None of these differences was statistically significant. The mean dressing percentages of lambs fed on diets I, II and III were 52·5, 52·7 and 53·9 respectively, and those of Makui (53·1) and Moghani lambs (53·3) were similar. There were only minor differences between the carcass characteristics of the two breeds and these were not influenced by the different diets.

Grass silage with a dry-matter content of 20·7%, and containing 18·9% crude protein and 67·0% digestible organic matter in the dry matter was self-fed to 20 lactating dairy cows for 18 weeks. In addition, 9 kg of brewers' grains with a dry-matter content of 28·8% was offered to each cow daily. The two supplement treatments were a barley mix and a groundnut cube containing 11·9 and 33·5% crude protein in the dry matter respectively. The barley was given at the rate of 4 kg/10 kg milk, and the groundnut at 1·5 kg/10 kg milk. The mean daily yields of milk were 18·9 and 19·4 kg/cow on the barley and groundnut treatments respectively and did not differ significantly.

Animal Production, Volume 22, part 2, pp. 217–223

Beef production from formic acid-treated and wilted silages

C. E. Hinks, I. E. Edwards and A. R. Henderson

Page 218, lines 7 and 11: formic acid was applied at 3·6 and 6·3 kg/t of fresh material, and not at 36 and 63 g/t.

Table 2: intakes are expressed as W0·73, and not W0·75 as indicated.

Animal Production, Volume 24, part 1, pp. 125–162

Titles and Abstracts of Papers for Presentation at the 66th Meeting of the British Society of Animal Production, Harrogate, 21 to 24 March 1977

Page 150, abstract 60: the third author is R. Thompson, ARC Unit of Statistics, Edinburgh.

Page 157, abstract 74: the sentence beginning on line 11 should read ‘The response to supplementary feeding was variable but 1·6 kg concentrates were required for every extra kg milk.’