Twenty-five Droughtmaster steers were implanted with 300 mg trenbolone acetate and 25 control non-implanted steers grazed the same unimproved native pasture for a dry and a wet season prior to being dispatched to the abattoir. The treated steers lost significantly (P c 0.05) less liveweight during the dry season and gained significantly (P c 0.001) more liveweight in the following wet season th...

12 female and 12 castrate male sheep were allocated to ration. containing dried fermented cassava peels at 0,20, 40 and 60% over a 6 month period to determine the optimum level at which maize could be replaced without any effect on digestibility of rations and liveweight performance. Carcass-and economic characteristics were determined. 40 and 60% fermented cassava peels significantly depressed...

Figure 1. Risk factors for bovine respiratory disease. Assessing the cost of each individual case is very difficult as a large proportion of the costs associated with BRD are hidden. The direct cost of dead animals, their disposal, medicines, extra labour and veterinary input are easy to quantify, but producers often turn a blind eye to the impact on liveweight gain, feed conversion efficiency ...

The single largest influence on the survival of lambs in thefirst few days of life is their birthweight. Fetal growth and birthweight are regulated by genotype of the fetus, maternal genotype, maternal nutrition and the external environment. In this paper we report the extent to which the changes in maternal liveweight during pregnancy and lactation (liveweight profile) ofMerino ewes can be use...

Body linear measurements, and specifically heart girth (HG), have been shown to be useful predictors of cattle liveweight. To test the accuracy of body linear measurements for predicting liveweight, crossbred dairy cattle of different genotypes were measured and weighed. A total of 352 mature cows and 100 heifers were weighed using an electronic weighing scale and measurements of HG, body lengt...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential benefits of grazing lactating ewes and their lambs on chicory (Cichorium intybus). Fifty-six certified organic twin-rearing ewes were either drenched with an anthelmintic or not, within 2 days after parturition and were grazed upon either grass/clover or chicory pastures. Around 12 weeks after parturition a subset of 12 lambs per tre...

Methods: Forty–eight barrows were selected at 11 weeks of age from a commercial nursery and randomly assigned either to the environments of the adjoining commercial grower and finisher buildings (n=24) (COMM group) or an unrestricting research environment (n=24) (UNRES group). Pigs were weighed at biweekly intervals from placement at 30 kg (65 lb) liveweight until slaughter. Backfat thickness a...

It has been suggested that United Kingdom recommendations for feeding the neonatal calf (500 g milk replacer (MR)/day; 200-230 g CP/kg milk powder) are inadequate to sustain optimal growth rates in early life. The current study was undertaken with 153 high genetic merit, male and female Holstein-Friesian calves (PIN2000 = £48) born between September and March, with heifers reared and bred to ca...