{"title":"A diverse diet increases animal growth performance and carcass yield of grazing lambs","authors":"M. R. Beck, K. Garrett, C. Marshall, P. Gregorini","doi":"10.1093/tas/txae103","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n The current experiments were conducted across two lamb finishing seasons [2019 (experiment one; Exp1) and 2020 (experiment two; Exp2)]. In both experiments lambs were provided a monotonous (MON) diet [annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) during 2019 and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and white-clover (Trifolium repens L.) during 2020] or a diverse (DIV) diet composed of spatially separated strips sown to chicory (Chicorium intybus L.), plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.), perennial ryegrass, lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), and dock (Rumex obtusifolius). During Exp1, the DIV lambs had a stocking rate (SR) of either 80, 95, 100, or 110 m2/lamb/week, whereas the MON lambs had a 100 m2/lamb/week SR. In Exp2, the SR aimed to allocate the MON lambs with twice the forage allowance (kg DM/lamb/d) as DIV lambs. In Exp1, all lambs provided DIV had a greater (P < 0.01) average daily gain (ADG; +130%) than MON rams, independent of the SR. Accordingly, DIV had greater (P < 0.05) hot carcass weight (HCW; +26%) and aged carcass weight (CW; +27%) compared with MON, across all SR. The 80 m2/lamb/week SR tended to have a greater (P = 0.10) dressing percentage and had similar (P = 0.29) drip loss percentage to the MON lambs, while the other DIV lamb SR all had greater (P < 0.05; +12%) dressing percentages and lower (P < 0.05) drip loss percentage than MON lambs. In Exp2, DIV lambs had greater (P < 0.01) ADG (+37% ), HCW (+15%), and dressing percentage (+6%) compared with MON lambs. This improved animal performance occurred despite being offered 57% less (P = 0.01) dry matter (DM), 56% less (P < 0.01) digestible DM, and 57% less (P = 0.02) metabolizable energy per lamb per day. Ultimately, these experiments demonstrate that providing growing lambs a functionally diverse diet improves animal growth performance and carcass weight compared with a monotonous diet of annual ryegrass or a mixed sward containing perennial ryegrass with white clover","PeriodicalId":23272,"journal":{"name":"Translational Animal Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Translational Animal Science","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/tas/txae103","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The current experiments were conducted across two lamb finishing seasons [2019 (experiment one; Exp1) and 2020 (experiment two; Exp2)]. In both experiments lambs were provided a monotonous (MON) diet [annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum L.) during 2019 and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) and white-clover (Trifolium repens L.) during 2020] or a diverse (DIV) diet composed of spatially separated strips sown to chicory (Chicorium intybus L.), plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.), perennial ryegrass, lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), and dock (Rumex obtusifolius). During Exp1, the DIV lambs had a stocking rate (SR) of either 80, 95, 100, or 110 m2/lamb/week, whereas the MON lambs had a 100 m2/lamb/week SR. In Exp2, the SR aimed to allocate the MON lambs with twice the forage allowance (kg DM/lamb/d) as DIV lambs. In Exp1, all lambs provided DIV had a greater (P < 0.01) average daily gain (ADG; +130%) than MON rams, independent of the SR. Accordingly, DIV had greater (P < 0.05) hot carcass weight (HCW; +26%) and aged carcass weight (CW; +27%) compared with MON, across all SR. The 80 m2/lamb/week SR tended to have a greater (P = 0.10) dressing percentage and had similar (P = 0.29) drip loss percentage to the MON lambs, while the other DIV lamb SR all had greater (P < 0.05; +12%) dressing percentages and lower (P < 0.05) drip loss percentage than MON lambs. In Exp2, DIV lambs had greater (P < 0.01) ADG (+37% ), HCW (+15%), and dressing percentage (+6%) compared with MON lambs. This improved animal performance occurred despite being offered 57% less (P = 0.01) dry matter (DM), 56% less (P < 0.01) digestible DM, and 57% less (P = 0.02) metabolizable energy per lamb per day. Ultimately, these experiments demonstrate that providing growing lambs a functionally diverse diet improves animal growth performance and carcass weight compared with a monotonous diet of annual ryegrass or a mixed sward containing perennial ryegrass with white clover
期刊介绍：
Translational Animal Science (TAS) is the first open access-open review animal science journal, encompassing a broad scope of research topics in animal science. TAS focuses on translating basic science to innovation, and validation of these innovations by various segments of the allied animal industry. Readers of TAS will typically represent education, industry, and government, including research, teaching, administration, extension, management, quality assurance, product development, and technical services. Those interested in TAS typically include animal breeders, economists, embryologists, engineers, food scientists, geneticists, microbiologists, nutritionists, veterinarians, physiologists, processors, public health professionals, and others with an interest in animal production and applied aspects of animal sciences.
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