Sheep and Goat Science Commons^™

Live Weight Parameters In Dorper, Damara And Australian Merino Lambs Subjected To Restricted Feeding, Tim Scanlon, Andre M. Almeida, Andrew Van Burgel, Tanya Kilminster, John Milton, Johan C. Greeff, Chris Oldham

Journal articles

Seasonal weight loss (SWL) is a serious constraint to ruminant production in tropical and Mediterranean climates. SWL is controlled using supplementation, costly and difficult to implement in extensive production systems; or alternatively, using breeds with a natural adaptation to tropical climates, namely hair and fat tailed sheep. Albeit a 15-year presence in Australia, little is known on how Dorper and Damara sheep compared to the most widely used sheep breed in Australia, the Australian Merino. In this trial, the responses of the Damara, Dorper and Merino breeds to nutritional stress were compared during a 42-day trial. Seventy-two ram lambs, 24 …