Browsing by Subject "Rambouillet sheep"
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Item Effect of Neofat on offspring sex ratios in Rambouillet and Suffolk sheep.(2011-05-10T21:35:24Z) Lange, Sarah E.; Lange, Sarah; Branham, Loree A.; Engdahl, Gril R.; Pier, Charles A.; Angelo State University. Department of Agriculture.Maternal diet and body condition are conceivably the most studied factors influencing sex ratio. The objective of this study was to determine if Neo-fat® influences offspring sex ratio in Rambouillet and Suffolk sheep. Ewes were randomly assigned to one of two treatments (n = 46). Treatment 1 consisted of a basal diet to serve as a control, and Treatment 2 consisted of the basal diet plus Neo-Fat fed at 0.46% of body weight. Ewes were bred after four weeks of feeding and continued to be fed for an additional two weeks. Blood samples were taken at breeding to determine differences in NEFA concentrations in serum. Results were only considered for ewes lambing as a result of being bred on the first estrus cycle and indicated no differences among NEFA concentrations, lamb sex ratios or lamb birth weights (P > 0.05).Item Estimates of efficiency of Dorper and Rambouillet lambs.(2011-05-03T20:03:15Z) Yeaman, Jessup; Yeaman, Jessup; Waldron, Dan; Craddock, B. Frank; Engdahl, Gil; Salisbury, Michael; Scott, David; Angelo State University. Department of Agriculture.Feed intake and body weight were recorded on thirty-seven Dorper ram lambs and forty-two Rambouillet ram lambs from weaning to 61kg of body weight to determine feed conversion efficiency. The data were collected over a two year period. Lambs were progeny of 6 unrelated sires per breed. Lambs were approximately 90 days of age and 31kg body weight at the start of the trial. Lambs were fed a commercially prepared, pelleted diet with an average crude protein content of 16% and TDN of 70.5%. Lambs were divided into groups of 10-11 containing both breeds, and fed using FIRE (Feed Intake Recording Equipment, Osborne Industries, Inc, Osborne, KS, USA). Lambs were identified using a unique electronic identification ear tag transponder. Feed intake was recorded electronically and lambs were weighed every two weeks. Data were analyzed using SAS PROC MIXED with a model that included breed and birth type as fixed effects, a random effect for sire, and starting weight as a covariate. In both years of the trial, breed was not found to have a statistically significant effect on ADG or FCE (p>0.05). Post weaning feed efficiency was similar between Dorper and Rambouillet lambs. The Dorpers’ total ADG was 340 g/d; the Rambouillets’ was 342 g/d. The Dorpers’ average FCE was 0.159; the Rambouillets’ was 0.158. Over the post weaning period studied there was no advantage shown by either breed.