Comparison of grazing oats and pasture for sheep production

1974 ◽  
Vol 14 (68) ◽  
pp. 322 ◽  
Author(s):  
PR Dann ◽  
A Axelsen ◽  
PM Bremner

In 1970 and 1971, the performance of ewes grazing oats at various stocking intensities during the final stages of pregnancy was compared with that of ewes, at stocking intensities considered optimal, on subterranean clover-annual grass pasture. Grazing oats produced no more winter feed than pasture in 1970, though quality of the oat herbage was better. In 1971, oats produced more, and better quality, herbage than pasture. Much greater ewe weight gains per head and per hectare were obtained on oats than on pasture in both years. In 1971, for example, ewes rotationally grazed on oats at 37 ha-1 gained 8 times more per head, and 23 times more per hectare, than ewes at 12 ha-1 on pasture. However, gains in reproductive performance and wool production were small or negligible.

1985 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 758 ◽  
Author(s):  
DG Hall ◽  
EC Wolfe ◽  
BR Cullis

Pasture production, ewe and lamb growth, ewe wool production and diet quality were studied on lucerne-subterranean clover pastures at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. Lucerne was sown at rates of 0.75 to 3.0 kg/ha, and the pastures were rotationally grazed with Border Leicester x Merino ewes at 9.6 or 12.7 sheep/ha, the ewes lambing in August- September. Lucerne density declined by 45% over the 3 years on all treatments. The clover cultivar sown, Woogenellup, had low persistence, particularly at 12.7 sheep/ha. The density of lucerne had little effect on annual wool and lamb production, although the ewes grew faster on the denser lucerne in summer and the sparser lucerne in winter. At 12- 7 sheep/ha, there was an extra 19% total lamb weight by the end of November and an extra 22% of finer wool (1 �m) annually, but the fleeces had a higher proportion of wool tenderness. The major limitations of the lucerne-subterranean clover pastures to sheep production were the low quality of the diet in early summer, and low pasture production in late winter. In early summer the lucerne was rapidly consumed, leaving only moderate quality clover and grass residues, which limited lamb growth, while in winter pregnancy toxaemia occurred, fleeces were tender and wool growth was low, particularly during a drought in 1976.


1990 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 469
Author(s):  
KP Croker ◽  
MA Johns ◽  
SH Bell ◽  
GA Brown ◽  
JF Wallace

The reproductive performances of groups of 4-6-year-old medium wool Merino ewes that were vaccinated with Fecundin and/or fed sweet lupin grain prior to and during the early part of the joining period were compared with untreated ewes over 2 years. The rams were joined with the ewes in early January of each year. In both years the Fecundin and lupin treatments increased ovulation rates (between 0.13 and 0.56) and the incidence of multiple pregnancies (between 1 and 36%). The proportions of lambs born following treatment with Fecundin were larger than those from the ewes fed only lupins. When the treatments were combined, there were no increases in lambs born above that of Fecundin alone. Pregnancy significantly depressed wool production from individual ewes, while those with more than 1 lamb produced less wool than those with only 1 lamb. However, the average quantity (4.6 kg greasy) and quality of wool produced by the ewes each year was similar for all groups, indicating that the variation in the incidence of multiple pregnancies had not affected flock wool production. The average rate of growth of the progeny from marking to weaning was also similar for each group (191 and 238 g/head.day for years 1 and 2, respectively) even though there were more multiple-born lambs in the Fecundin-treated groups. On a flock basis, it would appear that the nutritional conditions experienced during this study were adequate to avoid significant penalties associated with multiple pregnancies.


1974 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 525 ◽  
Author(s):  
GD Kohn

From 1962 to 1966 an experiment was carried out at the Agricultural Research Institute, Wagga Wagga, N.S.W., with dry Merino sheep on an annual clover-grass pasture, in which the stocking rate and the rates of topdressing with superphosphate were varied. In the first year Trifolium subterraneum (subterranean clover) responded to superphosphate, particularly at the lowest stocking rates. In the following 2–3 years there was a change to Hordeum leporinum Link (barley grass) dominance. A greater amount of subterranean clover persisted over the years on the unfertilized plots than on the fertilized plots. Clover burr on these treatments was associated with better liveweight performance by sheep over the dry summer-autumn period. However, after the autumn rains germinating barley grass on the topdressed plots allowed rapid liveweight gains to be made by the sheep on those treatments. Greasy wool production per head, averaged over four shearings, was 4.81, 4.36 and 3.86 kg at 5, 10 and 15 sheep per ha respectively. Superphosphate had no significant effect on wool production. Liveweights decreased as the stocking rate increased. However, at a given stocking rate, the liveweight changes were influenced by changes in pasture composition induced by topdressing with superphosphate, as much as by total available pasture. It appears that in this clover ley farming area topdressing can be omitted in the pasture phase of a wool production system after 700 kg superphosphate ha-I have been applied to the soil.


1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 349 ◽  
Author(s):  
CW Thorn ◽  
MW Perry

Pasture production, pasture composition and quality, and liveweight, body condition and wool growth of Merino weaner wethers were monitored over 2 seasons and at 2 stocking rates (4 and 8 sheep/ha) on a mixed annual grass-legume pasture sprayed with propyzamide to control grasses. Propyzamide virtually eliminated annual grasses from the pasture (less than 5 kg/ha of grass dry matter in spring v. 403 kg/ha on untreated pasture in 1981) and this carried over into the second season (61 kg/ha v. 647 kg/ha in spring 1982). Propyzamide treated pastures had less total dry matter (P = 0.05) throughout 1981: however, except for a single sample date, there was no effect of propyzamide on total available pasture in the second season. Increased growth of clover and capeweed compensated for the absence of the grasses. The higher stocking rate reduced available clover, capeweed and total dry matter (P = 0.05) throughout both years. Sheep grazing grass-free pastures had lower liveweights during winter in both years, but made compensatory gains during late spring and summer consistent with the higher quality (1.6 v. 1.07% nitrogen when sampled in January) of propyzamide treated pastures. In 198 1, wool growth rates were reduced at the higher stocking rate and total clean wool production was reduced from 4.55 kg/sheep at 4/ha to 3.65 kg/sheep at 8/ha. Pasture treatment had no effect on wool production in either year. The implications of using selective herbicides to remove the annual grass component of legume-based annual pastures in south-western Australia are dis cussed in relation to pasture and sheep production.


1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (97) ◽  
pp. 216 ◽  
Author(s):  
RD FitzGerald

Four pasture types: subterranean clover/annual grass, subterranean clover/phalaris, lucerne/ subterranean clover, and lucerne/phalaris/subterranean clover were grazed by dry ewes at two stocking rates (8.9 and 13.3 sheep ha-1) from August 1969 until May 1973. Sheep on pasture containing lucerne were an average 2.4 kg heavier than sheep on subterranean clover with phalaris or annual grass. The difference increased to as much as 7 kg in summer and was usually maintained over the winter. Sheep on subterranean clover/phalaris pastures were heavier in favourable seasons and lighter in poorer seasons than those on subterranean clover/annual grass. Generally, these liveweight effects were reflected in wool production.


1969 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1161 ◽  
Author(s):  
PD Mullaney ◽  
GH Brown ◽  
SSY Young ◽  
PG Hyland

Estimates are given of the change in the level of production of 10 fleece characteristics of four Merino, one Polwarth, and three Corriedale flocks, in Victoria associated with variation in property, breed, season, property x season, age, and reproductive status. There was a decrease with age of characteristics associated with wool weight, and a decline in general wool quality. The decline was approximately linear for most characteristics from ewes of 3 years of age. Lactation was generally more severe than pregnancy in reducing wool production. The estimates of the effect of age on wool characteristics are used to assess the likely quantity and quality of wool produced by flocks of different age structures. These estimates may be used in conjunction with reproductive performance data to plan for maximum wool production.


1972 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. E. Hinks ◽  
J. H. D. Prescott

SUMMARYTwenty-four Friesian steers, initially 5 months of age, were involved in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment which spanned grazing and silage feeding periods of 22 weeks' duration. In the first period, cattle were stocked at a uniformly high density, with half of the group being fed 1·25 kg/head per day of supplementary barley. In the second period, the cattle were subdivided into four groups and fed varying levels of barley with silage. Finally all the animals received 3·65 kg/head per day of barley. Replicates of the four treatments were slaughtered at random after 5 to 11 weeks on this treatment. Whilst supplementary cereal feeding significantly increased the live-weight gains of steers at grass by 11%, this live-weight advantage was offset by their slower gains in the final weeks before slaughter. Feeding cereals to grazing cattle had little effect on carcass composition or the proportions of carcass joints, but their beef was considered, by a tasting panel, to be more tender than the meat from the control steers.Increasing the level of barley fed with silage only increased live-weight gains by 2%, and had little effect on carcass or meat quality.


1995 ◽  
Vol 1995 ◽  
pp. 178-178
Author(s):  
A H Stewart ◽  
S A Edwards ◽  
V R Fowler

The once bred gilt system of production has a number of benefits in terms of feed efficiency and welfare, however the system relies on the production of a quality carcass and acceptable reproductive performance. Previous studies have indicated that welfare might be improved if gilts were ad-libitum fed a diet containing 60% Sugar beet pulp (Stewart et al 1993). There was a suggestion however that reproductive physiology may be put at risk using such a diet. The objective of this experiment was to identify differences in reproductive performance using two different energy sources in gestation and to manipulate nutrition during lactation to study the effect on carcass quality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Irwansyah ◽  
Junaedi ◽  
Suparman

One of the problems that exist in the community is the lack of identification of the reproductive performance of prospective brooders of Bali cattle that are artificially inseminated. The researcher conducted a research to determine the reproductive performance of Bali Cattle inseminated with Brahman Cattle Semen in SECP (Special Effort for Cows to be Pregnant Program) Program in Kolaka Regency. The parameters observed in this study were; artificial insemination's first age (Years), How many times the artificial insemination (AI) was pregnant (S/C), Length of pregnancy (months), Calving Interval (CI) (months), Birth weight (Kilograms), Correlation of AI's first age with birth weight. Sources of date used in this study are primary and secondary data. Data collection techniques carried out in this study were observation and interviews. The date obtained was analyzed descriptively, analysis of variance, average, and to calculate the relationship between variables was analyzed by correlation. Reproductive performance of Bali Cattle inseminated with Brahman Cattle Semen in SECP Program in Kolaka district include; first age AI 23.63±1.99 months, Service per Conception (S/C) 1.56±0.55, gestational age 9.03±0.38 months, Calving Interval (CI) 12.24±0 .52 months, birth weight 27.85 ± 2.96 and the correlation between AI prime age and birth spacing was 0.77.


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