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The effects of body weight and its components on lambing performance in some commercial flocks in Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

P. A. Geisler  and
J. S. Fenlon
P. A. Geisler
Affiliation:
Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5LR
J. S. Fenlon
Affiliation:
Grassland Research Institute, Hurley, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 5LR
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Abstract

An analysis of the records of ewe weight and condition at mating together with subsequent lambing performance for several commercial flocks in the UK revealed no significant relationship between lambing performance and size, measured by weight transformed to a standard condition. The relationship between mating weight and body condition score at mating was linear though there was considerable variation in weight at a fixed body condition, suggesting a substantial spread in skeletal size. Increases in ovulation rate were not discernible from lambing figures over the range of body conditions observed in these flocks.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , April 1979 , pp. 245 - 255
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1979

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References

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