Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T18:22:11.188Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effect of winter shearing of housed pregnant ewes on food intake and animal performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. E. Vipond ,
Margaret E. King ,
D. M. Inglis  and
E. A. Hunter
J. E. Vipond
Affiliation:
North of Scotland College of Agriculture, 581 King Street, Aberdeen AB9 1UD
Margaret E. King
Affiliation:
North of Scotland College of Agriculture, 581 King Street, Aberdeen AB9 1UD
D. M. Inglis
Affiliation:
North of Scotland College of Agriculture, 581 King Street, Aberdeen AB9 1UD
E. A. Hunter
Affiliation:
AFRC Unit of Statistics, The King's Buildings, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JZ
Get access

Abstract

The effects of winter shearing on the food intake and performance of housed ewes was studied in a series of three experiments. Winter shearing resulted in a proportional increase of dry-matter intake in ewes of 0·16 and 0·43 on two silage-based diets, of 0·09 on swede-based diets, but of only 0·02 on a hay-based diet. Shearing increased intake by a greater amount in smaller ewes and a similar trend occurred on diets containing a greater proportion of barley. Shearing increased average lamb birth weight by about 600 g (4·65 kg v. 4·06 kg), apparently as an effect of shearing per se rather than as a result of the increased energy intake. An increase in gestation length of around 1·8 days accounted for one-fifth of this increased birth weight. The effect on gestation length of shearing was to increase the unnaturally short gestation of housed unshorn ewes, this short gestation being attributed to problems of heat stress in late pregnancy. Results indicated management advantages of winter shearing in favourable climatic environments.

Type
Papers
Information
Animal Production , Volume 45 , Issue 2 , October 1987 , pp. 211 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1987

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Austin, A. R. and Young, N. F. 1977. The effect of shearing pregnant ewes on lamb birth weights. Veterinary Record 100: 527–529.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chandrasekaran, A., Glovkr, R. J. and Lord, P. S. 1972. Spectrophotometric micro-method for the enzymic determination of D-3-hydroxybutyrate. Clinica Chimica Acta 37: 371–380.Google Scholar
Chandrasekaran, A. and Lord, P. S. 1973. Semi-automated reaction-rate analysis for n-3-hydroxybutyrate in blood. Clinica Chimica Acta 44: 263–266.Google Scholar
Lawes Agricultural Trust. 1984. Genstat V, Mark 4.04. Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden.Google Scholar
Lodge, G. A. and Heaney, D. P. 1975. Influences of feed allowance during pregnancy on reproductive performance of ewes and growth of suckled and artificially reared lambs. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 55: 533–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maund, B. A. 1980. Shearing ewes at housing. Animal Production 30: 481 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. 1982. Winter shearing of housed ewes. Agricultural Development and Advisory Service Annual Report, 1981, pp. 27–28.Google Scholar
Morgan, H. and Broadbent, J. S. 1980. A study of the effects of shearing pregnant ewes at housing. Animal Production 30: 476 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Ngongoni, N. T., Robinson, J. J. and Aitken, R. 1984. The effect of shearing on the rate of outflow of a chromium-mordanted protein concentrate from the rumen of ewes. Animal Production 38: 524 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Robinson, J. J., McDonald, I., Fraser, C. and Crofts, R. M. J. 1977. Studies on reproduction in prolific ewes. 1. Growth of products of conception. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 88: 539–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, J. J., McDonald, I., Fraser, C. and Gordon, J. G. 1980. Studies on reproduction in prolific ewes. The efficiency of energy utilization for conceptus growth. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 94: 331–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russel, A. J. F., Armstrong, R. H. and White, I. R. 1985. Studies on the shearing of housed pregnant ewes. Animal Production 40: 47–53.Google Scholar
Rutter, W., Laird, T. R. and Broadbent, P. J. 1971. The effects of clipping pregnant ewes at housing and of feeding different basal roughages. Animal Production 13: 329–336.Google Scholar
Ternouth, J. H. and Beattik, A. W. 1970. A note on the voluntary food consumption and the sodium-potassium ratio of sheep after shearing. Animal Production 12: 343–346.Google Scholar
Thompson, G. E. and Goode, J. 1981. Lactogenesis in ewes exposed to neutral and cold environmental temperatures during the last week of gestation. Animal Production 32: 245–250.Google Scholar
Treacher, T. T. and Orr, R. J. 1980. Silage intakes and replacement rates by ewes offered ad libitum silage and rations of concentrates in late pregnancy. Animal Production 40: 522–523 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Vipond, J. E., Hunter, E. A. and King, M. E. 1985. The utilization of whole and rolled cereals by ewes. Animal Production 40: 297–301.Google Scholar
Wheeler, J. L., Reardon, T. F. and Lamhourne, L. J. 1963. The effects of pasture availability and shearing stress on herbage intake in grazing sheep. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 14: 364–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wodzicka-Tomaszewska, M. 1963. The effect of shearing on the appetite of sheep. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 6: 440–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar