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Prenatal and postnatal competition among twin lambs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

Peter J. Burfening
Affiliation:
Department of Animal and Range Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
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Summary

Twin-born Rambouillet, Targhee and Columbia lambs were used to study the effect of sex of lamb and its co-twin on birth weight, weight at 60 days of age and weaning weight. Mean birth weights of female lambs were lower than those of males, and lambs born co-twin to males had a lower mean birth weight than those born co-twin to females. Lambs born co-twins to females grew faster from birth to 60 days of age and had a greater chance of surviving from birth to weaning than did lambs that were co-twins to males.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1972

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References

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