The effect of sward height during pregnancy on wool grown by ewes rearing twins or triplets
R.G. SHERLOCK, N. TORBATINEJAD, P.R.KENYON AND S.T. MORRIS
Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
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NZSAP 2004 Abstract No. 41
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 64: 171-174
Previous work estimating the impact of rearing lambs on wool growth and processing characteristics has been done primarily with single and twin-bearing ewes. The effect of bearing/rearing triplets on wool growth has been largely extrapolated from these data. The aim of this study was to compare the wool growth and quality of twin- and triplet-bearing/rearing ewes offered different sward height allowances. After pregnancy scanning, 94 Romney ewes (including 68 twin- and 26 triplet-bearing ewes) with 6 weeks wool growth, were randomly allocated to four different sward heights (2, 4, 6 and 8 cm). Within the first 24 hours of parturition ewes were transferred to one of two sward heights (4 and 8 cm). Ewes were shorn 87 days after parturition, the fleece was weighed and a sample was taken from the midside for measurement of fleece characteristics. There were no interactions between nutritional treatment and litter size for any wool measurements. Fleeces from twin-bearing/rearing ewes tended to be heavier (P<0.1 ; 2.0 kg vs 1.9 kg) than those from triplet-bearing/rearing ewes. There was no effect of litter size on any other wool characteristic. Ewes offered 2 cm during the last half of pregnancy had lighter (1.6 vs 2.2 kg, P<0.05) and finer (39.0 vs 41.8 µm, P<0.05) fleeces than those offered 4 cm but there was no increase in weight or fineness for those offered more than 4 cm. Nutritional treatments post parturition had no significant effects on wool characteristics. There seems to be little benefit, in terms of wool
Keywords: NZSAPAB;
feeding; nutrition; wool growth; wool characteristics
Last Updated 8/07/2004
