The use of terminal sires (TS) for crossbreeding is integral to the UK sheep industry where approximately 71% of market lambs are sired by TS rams. Early growth of these crossbred lambs affects profitability. The objectives of this study were i) to evaluate the effectiveness of index selection among TS on BW and ADG of their crossbred offspring; and ii) to compare the efficacy of that selection...

1. Forty-eight intact male lambs (30 kg) were fed to gain 16 (H), 5 (M) or -6 (L) kg during a 42 d interval (period 1). Lambs from each of the H and M groups were fed to gain either 16 (HH, MH), 5 (HM, MM) or -6 (HL, ML) kg and lambs from the L group were fed to gain 27 (LS), 16 (LH) or 5 (LM) kg during the ensuing 42 d (period 2). 2. Fasting heat production (FHP) of four lambs from each treatm...

Crossbred lambs (47.3 kg BW) were used to study the effects of restraint and isolation stress on endocrine status and blood metabolites, antemortem glycogenolysis, and incidence of the dark-cutting condition (DCC) in the longissimus muscle (LM) and to determine the role of muscle contraction in the formation of the DCC in sheep. Lambs were assigned randomly to three treatments: unstressed contr...

Little attention has been paid to the aspects of cardiac injury-related foot and mouth disease (FMD) in young animals. So, this research was conducted to evaluate the serum biomarkers and electrocardiographic (ECG) evidence of myocardial injury in the infected lambs with FMD. During an outbreak, 33 lambs with FMD and 11 healthy lambs were randomly enrolled. After blood sampling, ECGs were taken...

A survey of the components of the rumen ciliate population in a series of adult sheep, raised in the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Alexandria, has shown that a mixture of Entodinium, Isotricha, Ophryoscolex, Diplodinium, and Polyplastron species was found in the rumen contents of Egyptian sheep; no Epidinium and a negligible number of Dasytricha ruminantium were also observed. The micro...

Newborn Ripollesa lambs (n = 143) were used to assess the optimal age at which the vascular pattern of the retina can be used as a reference for identification and traceability. Retinal images from both eyes were recorded from birth to yearling (d 1, 8, 30, 82, 180, and 388 of age) in duplicate (2,534 images) using a digital camera specially designed for livestock (Optibrand, Fort Collins, CO)....

In this study, the effects of late gestational undernutrition (LGU) on plasma concentration of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-I), leptin, insulin and glucose in subsequent sucking lambs was investigated. Ten twin-bearing ewes were fed either restrictedly (Restricted) or adequately (Control) during the last six weeks of gestation and were fed ad libitum after parturition. Blood samples were t...

This paper presents data on the incidence and cause of lamb deaths from 3, 4, 6 and 7 year old ewe groups on one property in south west Victoria. Postmortem examinations were performed on 390 lambs. The perinatal mortality rate was highest among the lambs of young and aged ewes, being associated with a higher incidence of lambs dying from dystocia and starvation respectively. This variation in ...

An inoculum containing Cryptosporidium oocysts obtained from an adult human patient with acute transient diarrhoea induced enteritis in two newborn specific pathogen free lambs. Three days after inoculation the lambs became depressed and diarrhoeic, their milk intake was reduced and Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in their faeces. Mucosal changes observed in the small intestine of one inf...

The effect of the beta-adrenergic agonist clenbuterol on immune function was examined in sheep. Twenty ewe lambs were housed indoors, with food and water available on an ad libitum basis, and immunized against somatostatin (SRIF) using a SRIF-ovalbumin conjugate. Ten of the lambs were also treated with clenbuterol (400 micrograms/kg) each day; 10 controls were not treated. After 5 wk of treatme...