Twelve Merino sheep were experimentally shown to be susceptible to infection with Trichinella spiralis or T. pseudospiralis by feeding on infected carcasses of mice or by oral intubation with recovered muscle larvae. The larvae recovered from the sheep showed variable tissue distribution. The diaphragm and tongue were most affected. The viability of the recovered larvae was confirmed by success...

AIM To determine the effects of annual rainfall and farm on the efficacy of melatonin implants in improving lamb production in Merino sheep in Spain. METHODS A study was conducted on 3,871 Merino sheep on six farms over a 4-year period (2004-2007). Melatonin implants were inserted during the second half of February or early March (winter) (Melatonin group) or not (Control group). Multinomial ...

The aim of this experiment was to study the effect of breed (Churra and Merino) and advancing season (middle June, late July and early October) on rumen fermentation in sheep grazing a continuously stocked grass /white clover pasture. Six mature sheep (three Churra and three Merino) fitted with rumen cannulae were used. During each grazing period, samples of the grazed herbage (obtained using t...

Sheep in many areas of Australia and New Zealand experience periods of variable feed supply. Merino sheep can be bred to be more resilient to this varying feed supply. Resilient sheep lose less live weight when grazing poor quality pasture. However, we do not know if breeding for live weight change genetically affects reproduction. To estimate genetic correlations between live weight change and...

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide a powerful approach for identifying quantitative trait loci without prior knowledge of location or function. To identify loci associated with wool production traits, we performed a genome-wide association study on a total of 765 Chinese Merino sheep (JunKen type) genotyped with 50 K single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). In the present study, five...

Merino sheep, which were hand jetted with ivermectin jetting fluid, and untreated sheep were challenged with larval implants of Lucilia cuprina, Lucilia sericata, Calliphora nociva and Chrysomya rufifacies at intervals of about 2 weeks from 6 to 16 weeks after treatment. Both Lucilia species produced strike rates of about 90% in untreated sheep; the respective rates were lower for Chr rufifacie...

Fifty Merino weaner sheep grazing on a wheat stubble at Wongan Hills were fed ad lib. either oat grain mixed with limestone (2% w/w) or just oat grain during the summer and autumn of 1985. The addition of limestone to the oat supplement increased the growth of the sheep from 39 g/day to 83 g/day (P<O.OOl) during the first 70 days of feeding. A summer thunderstorm resulted in a brief germination...