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Journal article
Additive Impacts of Liveweight and Body Condition Score at Breeding on the Reproductive Performance of Merino and Non-Merino Ewe Lambs
Animals (Basel), Vol.14(6), 867
2024
PMID: 38539967
Abstract
Ewe lambs that are heavier due to improved nutrition pre- and post-weaning achieve puberty at a younger age, are more fertile, and have a higher reproductive rate. Fatness is intimately linked to reproduction, and we hypothesised that higher body condition scores at breeding would have positive effects on the reproductive rate of ewe lambs over and above liveweight. We also expected that if only a proportion of ewe lambs were presented for breeding, then it would be more effective to select them based on both liveweight and body condition score. To test these hypotheses, we analysed data from over 17,000 records from Merino and non-Merino ewe lambs from 22 different flocks across Australia. Non-Merino ewe lambs were more fertile (69.4% vs. 48.7%) and achieved a higher reproductive rate than Merino ewe lambs (96.9% vs. 60.7%). There were significant curvilinear relationships between liveweight (p < 0.001) or body condition score (p < 0.001) prior to breeding and reproductive rate for both Merino and non-Merino ewe lambs. For both breeds, there was a significant (p < 0.001) quadratic effect of body condition score prior to breeding on reproductive rate, independent of the correlated changes in liveweight, and at the same liveweight, an extra 0.5 of a body condition score up to 3.3 improved reproductive rate by about 20%. Nevertheless, the results indicated that if only a proportion of ewe lambs were selected for breeding, then selection based on both liveweight and body condition scores may only improve the overall reproductive rate by 1 to 2% compared to selection based on liveweight alone. We conclude that liveweight is a more effective method than body condition score for selecting ewe lambs for breeding.
Details
- Title
- Additive Impacts of Liveweight and Body Condition Score at Breeding on the Reproductive Performance of Merino and Non-Merino Ewe Lambs
- Authors/Creators
- Andrew N. Thompson - Murdoch University, Centre for Animal Production and HealthMark B. Ferguson - Centre for Animal Production and Health, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia 36 Payne Road, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Benalla, VIC 3672, Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Bunbury, WA 6230, Australia UWA Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia J.T Agri Source Pty Ltd., Mill Park, VIC 3082, AustraliaGavin A. Kearney - Centre for Animal Production and Health, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia 36 Payne Road, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Benalla, VIC 3672, Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Bunbury, WA 6230, Australia UWA Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia J.T Agri Source Pty Ltd., Mill Park, VIC 3082, AustraliaAndrew J. Kennedy - Agriculture VictoriaLyndon J. Kubeil - Agriculture VictoriaClaire A. Macleay - Centre for Animal Production and Health, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia 36 Payne Road, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Benalla, VIC 3672, Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Bunbury, WA 6230, Australia UWA Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia J.T Agri Source Pty Ltd., Mill Park, VIC 3082, AustraliaCesar A. Rosales-Nieto - The University of Western AustraliaBeth L. Paganoni - Centre for Animal Production and Health, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia 36 Payne Road, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Benalla, VIC 3672, Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Bunbury, WA 6230, Australia UWA Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia J.T Agri Source Pty Ltd., Mill Park, VIC 3082, AustraliaJason P. Trompf - Centre for Animal Production and Health, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia 36 Payne Road, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Hamilton, VIC 3300, Australia Agriculture Victoria, Benalla, VIC 3672, Australia Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Bunbury, WA 6230, Australia UWA Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia J.T Agri Source Pty Ltd., Mill Park, VIC 3082, Australia
- Publication Details
- Animals (Basel), Vol.14(6), 867
- Publisher
- MDPI
- Grant note
- L.LSM. 0001; B.LSM. 0038; B.PDS. 0903 / Meat and Livestock Australia
- Identifiers
- 991005651568507891
- Copyright
- © 2024 by the authors.
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Centre for Animal Production and Health
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- 3.51 Dairy & Animal Sciences
- 3.51.115 Livestock Reproduction
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