Locoweed (Oxytropis sericea) is a toxic plant commonly found on rangelands in the western United States. The locoweed toxin is an indolizidine alkaloid, swainsonine that causes neurological and systemic damage. The objective of this study was to determine if feeding of locoweed to pregnant ewes during days 100–130 of gestation would affect lamb behaviour shortly after birth. Twenty yearling nul...

The aim of the research was to evaluate the influence of sex, breeding group, litter size and age of lambs when placed in lambing pens for their growth rate during rearing. The average daily gain of lambs was evaluated based on their weighing data each week after their placement into lambing pens. Lambs of Improved Valachian, Tsigai and Lacaune breed (n=26) had been gradually integrated to the ...

A multistate cooperative study was conducted to study the current issue of tail length in docked lambs and its relationship to incidence of rectal prolapse. A total of 1,227 lambs at six locations were randomly allocated to two or three tail dock treatments: 1) short--tail was removed as close to the body as possible, 2) medium--tail was removed at a location midway between the attachment of th...

Recommendations for transportation of lambs, horses, calves, and pigs from a committee of the European Commission, which required rest stops of 6 or 24 h, every 8 h, were evaluated using Rambouillet x Suffolk lambs. The lambs of 17.6 +/- 0.5 kg of BW were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatments: transported for 22 h (continuous; n = 15); transported for 8 h, unloaded and rested for 6 h, transpor...

Thirty-two crossbred (Suffolk x Rambouillet) wether lambs were used to examine the effectiveness of protein source (soybean meal [SBM] or fish meal [FM]) in alleviating decreased performance associated with dietary aflatoxin (AF) in growing lambs. After a 21-d adaptation period to concentrate diets, lambs were assigned to the following dietary treatments: 1) SBM, 0 mg of AF; 2) FM, 0 mg of AF; ...

I . In order to establish whether or not there is a change in the relative rates of anabolism and catabolism of amino acids in the livers of lambs as they mature, a study has been made in isolated perfused livers obtained from foetal, suckling and ruminating lambs. The livers were perfused in a recirculating system and a mixture of amino acids (casein hydrolysate) was infused as substrate in th...

A trial was carried out to determine the resistance to natural infection by gastrointestinal nematodes in 12 Santa Inês and nine Ile de France lambs before weaning. Faecal samples were obtained for faecal nematode egg counts (FEC). Blood samples were collected to determine packed cell volume (PCV), total plasma protein levels and peripheral eosinophil counts. Most Ile de France lambs (77.8%) we...

The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that capsaicin treatment in lambs selectively inhibits bronchopulmonary C-fiber function but does not alter other vagal pulmonary receptor functions or peripheral and central chemoreceptor functions. Eleven lambs were randomized to receive a subcutaneous injection of either 25 mg/kg capsaicin (6 lambs) or solvent (5 lambs) under general anesthesi...

This study was designed to evaluate the impact of weaning age on lamb and ewe productivity in an accelerated lambing system. St. Croix White (STX) and Dorper × St. Croix White (DRPX) lambs were assigned at birth based on breed, gender, and litter size to be weaned at 63 (Early-1; 106 lambs and 68 ewes) or 90 d of age (Late-1; 99 lambs and 60 ewes) in Exp.1 or at 63 (Early-2; 77 lambs and 57 ewe...