Legumes, herbs or grass for lamb performance?

Abstract

<jats:p>Lamb performance was evaluated for three consecutive summer-early autumn periods on ryegrass (Lolium perenne), white clover (Trifolium repens), chicory (Cichorium intybus), plantain (Plantago lanceolata) or lotus (Lotus corniculatus). Lamb liveweight gains, fasted liveweights at slaughter and hot carcass weights tended to be highest on legumes and chicory and lowest on plantain and ryegrass. Greasy wool weights were significantly higher on lotus and white clover than on chicory, plantain and ryegrass. Greasy wool weight was significantly related to fasted liveweight (R2=0.94-0.99). Protein (%) in herbage accounted for 83-92% of the variability in animal performance; food intake accounted for 57-69% of the variability and was negatively correlated with hemicellulose and cellulose (R2=97.2 and 80.9%, respectively). Thus quality of feed was more important than intake alone in determining animal performance. Keywords: carcass weight, Cichorium intybus, greasy wool weight, intake, lamb performance, Lotus corniculatus, Lolium perenne, Plantago lanceolata, Trifolium repens</jats:p>

Effect of finishing diet and duration on the sensory quality and volatile profile of lamb meat

“…219 There was no difference in muscle fat content among dietary treatments or finishing 220 periods (Table 1). Other authors have reported that lambs receiving concentrate diets 221 generally have higher growth rates (Fraser & Rowarth, 1996) and IMF than lambs receiving 222 pasture-based diets (De Brito et al, 2017). However, Crouse et al (1978) found no difference 223 in fat thickness or percentage carcass fat of lambs fed low, medium or high energy diets and 224 slaughtered at constant weights.…”

Forage Chicory and Plantain Nutritive Value of Herbage at Variable Grazing Frequencies and Intensities

“…The chicory cultivar Grasslands Puna released in 1985 frequently has been used in the USA and is reported to have good summer productivity (Jung et al, 1996; Volesky, 1996). This cultivar can have similar or higher digestibility as perennial ryegrass ( Lolium perenne L.) and white clover ( Trifolium repens L.) mixtures (Hoskin et al, 1999) and birdsfoot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus L.) (Fraser and Rowarth, 1996; Min et al, 1997). Additionally, its faster rumen degradation and rates of passage improved voluntary feed intake and growth rate of deer ( Cervus elaphus ) grazing chicory (Kusmartono et al, 1997).…”

“…These cultivars were selected for their upright growth habit and larger leaves than naturally occurring types. Leaves of plantain cultivars are reported as highly palatable to animals and to have a similar digestibility to perennial ryegrass and birdsfoot trefoil pastures (Fraser and Rowarth, 1996; Stewart, 1996; Rumball et al, 1997).…”

Lamb Fattening Under Intensive Pasture-Based Systems: A Review

“…Results show that lambs grazing on a lucerne-dominant perennial pasture performed better than did lambs grazing on annual pasture with supplements during the finishing period [82]. In addition, Fraser and Rowarth [67] underlined the importance of feed quality on animal performance when they evaluated ryegrass, white clover, chicory, plantain (Plantago lanceolata), or lotus. These variations in grass quality are mainly explained by the differences in the fiber content and protein of the pastures used.…”

“…In this sense, the intake of NDF is considered the first limiting factor of the intake in forage diets since it is related to the reticulum-rumen distention [83]. Figure 1 presents the relationship between dry matter intake and average daily gain (ADG) in treatments on lambs fed only fresh forage [33,42,63,64,67,70,73,74]. Even considering that different methods of intake assessment were used in the studies (see Table 2), and that this fact could add variability to the data set, the consumption of DM in grazing lambs explained almost 40% of the ADG (P < 0.001).…”