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Growth in sheep. I. The chemical composition of the body

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

T. W. Searle ,
N. McC. Graham  and
M. O'Callaghan
T. W. Searle
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Animal Physiology, Ian Clunies Ross Animal Research Laboratory, Prospect, N.S.W., Australia*
N. McC. Graham
Affiliation:
C.S.I.R.O., Division of Animal Physiology, Ian Clunies Ross Animal Research Laboratory, Prospect, N.S.W., Australia*
M. O'Callaghan
Affiliation:
Division of Mathematical Statistics, C.S.I.R.O., Newtown, N.S.W., Australia2042
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Summary

Fifteen sheep were fed ad libitum from 2 days to 27 months of age, and another 15 sheep were each fed exactly half the average amount consumed by the first group, age for age. The body composition of each sheep (water, fat, protein, energy) was estimated from tritiated water space on 13 occasions during this period.

To describe the course of growth in individual sheep in terms of the relationships between the various body components and body weight, a model was set up in which 4 phases of growth were distinguished, viz. the milk-feeding phase, the period of rumen development, and a prefattening followed by a fattening ruminant phase. Each phase was represented by a linear equation.

Except for phase 1, mean composition within each phase differed significantly between well-fed animals and those which had been given a restricted diet. Individual animals differed in the body weight at which the final phase commenced; the average weight was ca. 31 kg. Fat storage was zero or negative during the main period of rumen development; otherwise the fat and therefore energy content of weight gain increased from phase to phase. The protein and water content of gain was high in phases 1 and 2 and decreased subsequently.

Calculations based on data in the literature indicated that, in phase 4, the composition of weight loss was the same as that of weight gain. It is also suggested that the body weight at which this fattening phase commences is related to mature weight, with animals of large ultimate size starting to fatten at heavier body weights than those of small ultimate size.

The application of the results to the determination of nutrient requirements is discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 79 , Issue 3 , December 1972 , pp. 371 - 382
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

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