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The effect of management system at lambing and flock genetics on lamb output on lowland sheep farms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

A.F. Carson  and
L.E.R. Dawson
A.F. Carson
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR, Northern Ireland
L.E.R. Dawson
Affiliation:
Agricultural Research Institute of Northern Ireland, Hillsborough, Co Down BT26 6DR, Northern Ireland
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Extract

Systems of lowland sheep production in the UK and Ireland are labour intensive with survey data indicating an average level of labour input of 6.0 to 8.0 hrs/ewe/year (Connolly, 2000). With declining returns from lamb production, management options with reduced labour requirements, such as outdoor lambing, need evaluation. Flock genetics may also influence labour requirements and determine the effectiveness of grass-based lambing systems. Therefore, the aims of current study were firstly to evaluate the effect on lamb output of controlled grass-based lambing systems compared with housing ewes in late pregnancy and lambing indoors and secondly to examine the effect of crossbred ewe genotype and ram breed on lamb output with grass-based and indoor lambing systems.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 2002 , 2002 , pp. 53
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2002

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References

Dawson, L.E.R. and Carson, A.F. (2001). The effect of ewe and ram genotype on lamb output and carcass quality. Proceedings of British Society of Animal Science, York, pp. 225 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connolly, L. (2000). Labour on sheep farms. Irish Grassland and Animal Production Association Journal. 34: 112–117.Google Scholar