Effects of weaning age and weight on lamb growth rate of Morada Nova breed raised in a tropical extensive production system

Abstract

The aim of this research were to study the effect of weaning age and weight on post-growing rate (PWG) (20.7kg and 17.6kg, respectively

Effect of Weaning Age on Growth and Slaughter Characteristics of Grasscutters (Thryonomisswinderianus) Raised Under Intensive Management in the Humid Tropics

“…For instance, Ugur et al (2004) reported non-significant influence of weaning age on weight gains of kids of Turkish Saanen goat. Also in accordance with the results of this study, Caneque (2001) and Selaive-Villarroel et al (2008) reported no effect (P>0.05) of weaning age on total lamb weight gain and daily weight gain.…”

“…In comparing the effect of weaning age on post-weaning growth rate, it was observed that pups weaned at six weeks (WA 6 ), which had a longer suckling period did not show better performance than those weaned earlier. Selaive-Villarroel et al (2008) observed and reported similar results for lambs of Morada Nova breed weaned at different ages.…”

Influence of live weight, sex and type of birth on growth and slaughter characteristics in early weaned lambs

“…In a number of experiments, however, the differences were not apparent and the reason was often a large variation in LW of lambs of both sexes (Shaker et al, 2010;Simeonov, 2013). Faster growth (Table 4) was partly associated with higher LW at birth and the influence of sex hormones on growth rate of lambs (Selaive-Villarroel et al, 2008). Faster growth requires more nutrients and actually Hammell and Laforest (1999) found that male lambs consumed more dry feed than females and according to several authors (Butterfield, 1988;Santos et al, 2008) the higher content of fat in the body of the female lambs causes a lower growth rate, compared with the leaner males.…”

The effects of breed, sire and environmental factors on the birth and weaning weight of lambs

“…In our study significant difference in body weight due to the sex of a lamb was only recognized in weaning weight of lambs -male were heavier than female lambs by 0.66 kg (Table 6). Sex difference could be explained by the influence of sexual hormones on animal development affecting body dimensions and fat deposits, as well as, muscle and bone tissues [30].…”