Andrew N Thompson

There has been a recent explosion in research on consequences of fetal development for postnatal health in humans, and in the use of the sheep as a model to understand postnatal consequences of altering the prenatal environment (for review see [87]). However, there is an important need for a review that quantifies consequences of prenatal nutrition for postnatal productivity in ruminants, particularly on the extent to which traits of economic importance can be influenced or programmed by variations in the maternal and fetal environment within production systems.