This experiment was carried out to compare the effects of treated and untreated wheat straw with Pleurotus florida on ewe feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and ewe body condition score (BCS) after parturition. Thirty Kermani ewes with an average weight of 48 ± 3.05 kg and about four years old were used in this experiment. Synchronization of estrus in sheep has been achieved with the use of i...

Two experiments were conducted with Polypay ewes nursing twin lambs to evaluate the effects of supplementing fat (calcium salts of palm oil fatty acids or hydrogenated tallow) on ewe lactation. In Exp. 1, ewes were fed a 52% concentrate:48% hay-based diet (as-fed basis) consisting of alfalfa hay (n = 4), endophyte-free fescue hay (n = 4), or fescue hay with 3.7% fatty acids (n = 4) from d 4 to ...

knowledge on animal requirement, available forage and its quality is fundamental for successful livestock and range management. since sheep is dominant grazing animal of rangelands in iran and there are over 27 sheep breeds and each breed has special body size, physiological condition and consequently different daily nutrition requirement, animal unit should be determinated for dominant breed o...

Twin-bearing Targhee ewes (Exp. 1, 1 yr, n = 42) and 1,182 single- and twin-bearing whiteface range ewes (Exp. 2, n = 8 experimental units over 2 yr) were used in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments to determine the effect of supplemental energy source and level of vitamin E supplement on lamb serum metabolites and thermogenesis (Exp. 1) and on lamb growth (Exp. 2). During late gestatio...

(Co)variance components and genetic parameters for test day ewe body weight of Lori-Bakhtiari sheep were estimated using a random regression model (RRM). The data consisted of 22153 individual body weight records, obtained from 1994 ewes (progeny of 205 sires and 1010 dams) between 371 and 3416 days of age, collected from the flock stud of Lori-Bakhtiari Sheep Breeding Station in Shahrekord, Ir...

Iodine deficiency can impair the reproductive performance of livestock and affect perinatal mortality of offspring, yet diagnosis of deficiency is complicated and guidelines for I supplementation are imprecise. We challenged pasture-grazing pregnant ewes with a long-acting I supplement and a goitrogenic forage, then monitored their I status during gestation and lactation and in their lambs from...

The objective of this research was to evaluate the effects of residual feed intake (RFI) determined under ad libitum feeding conditions on DMI and performance of yearling ewes fed either chopped or pelleted alfalfa hay. In Exp. 1, 45 ewe-lambs had ad libitum access to a pelleted grower diet for 63 d and individual DMI was determined using an electronic feed delivery system. Residual feed intake...