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The effects of offering a concentrate or grass silage based diet to twin-bearing ewes in late pregnancy on ewe and lamb performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2017

T.M. Boland*
Affiliation:
University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
L. Hayes
Affiliation:
University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
J.J. Murphy
Affiliation:
University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
J.J. Callan
Affiliation:
University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
T.F. Crosby
Affiliation:
University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland
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Extract

Approximately 75% of ewes are housed in Ireland for some portion of the winter, normally the late gestation period. This coincides with a large increase in dietary requirements, with 80% of lamb birth weight laid down in the final two months of gestation (Robinson, 1990) and also udder development during this period. Traditionally, these nutritional requirements were met by feeding grass silage ad libitum and supplementing with concentrates on a stepped rate with advancing pregnancy. With the introduction of the decoupled single farm payment and an ever-decreasing labour supply, sheep producers are looking for financially attractive, low labour alternatives and a concentrate based diet may be one such alternative. The objectives of this experiment were to compare an all concentrate diet supplemented with different fibre sources with the standard silage based diet supplemented with concentrates on feed intake, ewe performance and lamb growth to weaning.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2007

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References

Robinson, J.J. 1990. Nutrition over the winter period -the breeding female. In New developments in sheep production (ed. Slade, C.F.R. and Lawrence, T.J.L.). pp 55–70. British Society of Animal Production OP no. 14.Google Scholar