The loss of body water of eight sows in the 7 d following weaning was determined using the deuterium oxide dilution technique. Four of the sows had received a concentrate diet in restricted amounts while the other four had been given the same diet mixed with two-thirds its weight of oat husks ad lib. during the whole of the preceding lactation. Certain blood and urine constituents were also mea...

Significant relations were observed between select infant-care and weaning behaviors and growth in body weight in common marmoset monkeys (Callithrix jacchus). The patterns of these relations suggest that earlier occurrence of developmental milestones, such as cessation of transport (being off carriers) and weaning to solid food, were associated with slower growth during the subsequent period. ...

In the present study, we investigated whether maternal exposure to a cafeteria diet affects the metabolism and body composition of offspring and whether such an exposure has a cumulative effect during the lifetime of the offspring. Female rats were fed a control (CON) or a cafeteria (CAF) diet from their own weaning to the weaning of their offspring. At 21 d of age, male offspring were divided ...

Correct feeding and management of the young pig for optimum lifetime performance is a key goal of pig producers, although the associations between these variables are often difficult to quantify. It is well recognised that commercial growth rates of suckling and weaned pigs are less than those that can be achieved when pigs are reared independently of the sow and/or fed greater quantities of a ...

In intensive pig production the weight of the weaned piglet has significant influence on the pig's later performance. The objective of this study is to estimate the relative impact of genetics, feeding, housing, and health factors on the weight gain during the nursing period. The study was performed as a cohort study in 3 farrow-to-finish herds. A technician visited the herds weekly and collect...

This 4-yr study was conducted with Angus (A)-sired and Polled Hereford (PH)-sired crossbred heifers that were exposed to either A or medium-frame Brahman (B) bulls from primiparous calvings either as 2- or 3-yr-olds. Each year, heifers were allotted at random within breed composition and age of dam to breeding groups on pasture for an 84-d breeding period that began in late March or early April...

Variances and covariances were estimated for birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WW), yearling gain (YG), yearling weight (YW), yearling height (YH), relative growth from birth to weaning (RGW) and weaning to yearling (RGY), and mature weight (MW). Field records on 572,446 Polled Hereford cattle were analyzed. Because multiple dam weights were collected on a cow the MW used in the analysis was ...

Records of five inbred lines at the Livestock and Range Research Laboratory were used to evaluate effects of inbreeding and heterozygosity on preweaning traits. Members of each line were descendants of a single founder Hereford bull. A total of 8,065 records of birth weight and 7,380 records of preweaning daily gain and weaning weight were analyzed by derivative-free REML using a model that inc...

Effects of Dorset, Finnsheep, Romanov, Texel, and Montadale breeds for performance as sires were estimated in the initial phase of a comprehensive evaluation of these breeds as contributors to sheep crossbreeding systems. Objectives were to evaluate the effects of ram breed, ewe breed, season of mating, and two-way interactions. Rams from the five breeds were single-sire-mated with ewes from tw...