1. Studies were conducted to measure the influence of perinatal undernutrition of twin-bearing ewes on ewe milk yields and lamb performance in early lactation. Comparative studies were conducted with lambs to measure the effects of postnatal nutrition on lamb performance and carcass composition. The major objective of this work was to determine the extent of the influence of postnatal nutrition...

Giardia duodenalis and Cryptosporidium spp. are gastro-intestinal protozoa known to infect small ruminants. Both protozoa are also considered as a potential public health concern. The objective of this study was to determine their prevalence in lambs and goat kids kept under common Mediterranean dairy husbandry systems and to identify the species and genotypes infecting these small ruminants. I...

Control of nematode parasites with reduced reliance on the use of anthelmintics was studied in 16 ewes with suckling twin lambs on contaminated pasture in Denmark. Ewes and lambs were treated with albendazole at turn-out 3 May. Ewes were removed from the groups on 26 July, and lambs were slaughtered on 11 October. The animals were allocated to 4 groups of 8 lambs and their 4 ewes. Group TS was ...

Essential amino acids such as methionine have been increasingly included into diets of lambs. However, few studies have determined the effects of methionine supplementation in the general performance and economic returns of lamb production. To address this question, 21weaned male Rahmani lambs were allotted to 3 dietary treatments: control diet (C), control diet plus 3.30 g of methionine/kg con...

Locoweeds ( Oxytropis and Astragalus spp.) are toxic plants found on many rangelands. Preferences for locoweed are learned; livestock often initially reject the plant, but learn to eat locoweed after continued exposure. Maternal influences are important in shaping diet selection in young animals. We studied the influence of ewe consumption of locoweed on lamb selection of the plant. Twenty-four...

The goals of this study were to investigate the effects of the callipyge (CLPG) phenotype on serum creatinine and lipid profiles of growing lambs. Preliminary studies in our laboratories indicated that creatinine may have utility in distinguishing the CLPG phenotype and that expression of the CLPG gene altered concentrations of serum total cholesterol (TC). As a result, in this study, we examin...

To investigate the role of renal sympathetic nerves in modulating cardiovascular and endocrine responses to hemorrhage early in life, we carried out three experiments in conscious, chronically instrumented lambs with intact renal nerves (intact; n = 8) and with bilateral renal denervation (denervated; n = 5). Measurements were made 1 h before and 1 h after 0, 10, and 20% hemorrhage. Blood press...

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different forage to concentrate ratios for fattening of Lohi lambs. For this purpose, 75 lambs were randomly divided into 3 groups A, B and C, with 25 lambs in each group. Berseem fodder was supplemented with concentrate at different ratios (forage to concentrate) as 75:25, 50:50 and 25:75 and fed to groups A, B and C, respectively for ...

essential amino acids such as methionine have been increasingly included into diets of lambs. however, few studies have determined the effects of methionine supplementation in the general performance and economic returns of lamb production. to address this question, 21weaned male rahmani lambs were allotted to 3 dietary treatments: control diet (c), control diet plus 3.30 g of methionine/kg con...

Active immunization against inhibin has been shown to advance puberty and increase ovulation rate in ewe lambs; but in ram lambs, effects on puberty and sperm production are equivocal. The objective of the present study was to determine whether active immunization against an inhibin alpha-subunit peptide advances the onset of puberty in ram lambs. St. Croix hair sheep ram lambs were assigned to...