Texel sheep were imported from Finland and Denmark for evaluation as a terminal sire population relative to the Suffolk breed. The objective was to estimate effects of sire breed on fitness, growth, and compositional traits of crossbred progeny that were serially slaughtered at 63, 105, 147, and 189 d of age. A total of 325 lambs, sired by 19 Texel and 20 Suffolk rams, were born to mature, half...

background: the effect of heat stress on physiologicalparameters has been well documented. however, there arereports of a genetic based heat tolerance in some sheep breeds.objectives: the aim of the present study was to monitor thephysiological responses of an iranian fat-tailed breed againstheat stress and an acute stress insult. methods:atotal numberof 15 fall-born ram lambs were selected and...

The objective of the present study was to compare live animal performance and carcass characteristics of 3/4 or 7/8 Dorper (DO; n= 30), purebred Katahdin (KA; n= 20), purebred St. Croix (SC; n= 17) and purebred Suffolk (SU; n= 10) lambs born in the spring and fall of 2001. After weaning, lambs were supplemented with up to 680 g of a corn-soybean meal supplement while grazing bermudagrass pastur...

Postfabrication carcass component weights of 517 crossbred wether lambs were analyzed to evaluate 4 terminal-sire breeds. Wethers were produced over 3 yr from single-sire matings of 22 Columbia, 22 USMARC-Composite (Composite), 21 Suffolk, and 17 Texel rams to adult Rambouillet ewes. Lambs were reared to weaning in an extensive western rangeland production system and finished in a feedlot on a ...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of Spirulina supplementation, sire breed and sex on the wool characteristics of purebred and crossbred Merino weaned lambs under a single pasture-based management system. Lambs sired by Merino, White Suffolk, Dorset, Black Suffolk breeds were randomly allocated into 3 treatments – the control group grazing without Spirulina (0 mL), low (100...

To survive, the newborn lamb must be able to maintain body temperature and to stand and move to the udder to suck colostrum to fuel heat production. The objective of this study was to investigate whether neonatal lambs showing slow behavioral progress to standing and sucking also have an impaired ability to maintain body temperature. The time taken to stand and suck after birth, rectal temperat...

This study aimed to investigate the bone development of two mountain sheep breeds during natural summer grazing either in the lowlands or on different characteristic alpine pastures. Pasture types differed in topographic slope, plant species composition, general nutritional feeding value, Ca and P content, and Ca:P ratio of herbage. Twenty-seven Engadine sheep (ES) lambs and 27 Valaisian Black ...

Birth and weaning weights were studied for purebred Finnsheep, Suffolk, Targhee and Minnesota 100; F1 Finnsheep crosses; F2: and standard breed and Finnsheep backcrosses. Finnsheep lambs were the smallest of all lambs at birth, but ranked second among purebreds in 70-day weaning weight (Suffolks, 21.0 kg vs Finnsheep, 17.6 kg). Ewe body weight, grease fleece production and total adjusted weight...

Previous research on impedance measurements for the prediction of carcass composition was predominantly carried out on animals that varied widely in body weight, breed, or sex. The high accuracy for the estimated lean or fat mass was mainly obtained by including the body weight in the regression equations. The objective of this study was the prediction of carcass composition in lambs of similar...

A study was conducted to evaluate the relative resistance to a natural or induced gastrointestinal (GI) nematode infection in hair and wool breeds of lambs. In Experiment 1, natural GI nematode infection was evaluated among fall born Dorper crossbred (DO; n = 17) or St. Croix (SC; n = 17) lambs. Ewe and wether lambs were weaned at 84 ± 1.1 days of age and dewormed. Fecal egg counts (FECs) and b...