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Nutrition and growth of gnotobiotic lambs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

R. J. Lysons ,
T. J. L. Alexander  and
Patricia D. Wellstead
R. J. Lysons
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council, Institute for Research on Animal Diseases, Compton, Newbury, Berkshire.
T. J. L. Alexander
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council, Institute for Research on Animal Diseases, Compton, Newbury, Berkshire.
Patricia D. Wellstead
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Council, Institute for Research on Animal Diseases, Compton, Newbury, Berkshire.
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Summary

Seventeen gnotobiotic lambs were reared up to 21 weeks of age on cows’ milk followed by sterile solid diets similar to diets fed to conventional lambs. Seven were given limited defined populations of rumen bacteria, seven were left uninoculated and three were dosed with rumen contents from conventional sheep (‘conventionalized’). The lambs were reared in four groups corresponding to four lambing seasons.

Gnotobiotic lambs fed cows’ milk ad libitumgrew at similar rates and converted feed into live-weight gain with similar efficiency to conventional lambs. The gnotobiotic lambs irrespective of inoculation and the two conventionalized lambs in the first three groups failed to maintain growth on solid diets when milk feeding had been stopped. However, three gnotobiotic lambs in the fourth group, two of which were inoculated, continued to grow satisfactorily for at least 6 weeks on a solid diet alone, and the inoculation of defined populations of bacteria appeared to confer an advantage. The conventionalized lamb in the fourth group suffered a severe temporary setback, following which it grew well.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 88 , Issue 3 , June 1977 , pp. 597 - 604
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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