Growth, known as the relation between liveweight and age, is explained mathematically by functions that have parameters with biological meaning. These parameters are used to describe growth pattern over time and to estimate the expected weight of animals at specific ages. Animal growth generally follows a sigmoidal pattern and several nonlinear functions have been used to describe it. This stud...

Data collected monthly over a period of two years were live weight, packed cell volume (PCV), nematode faecal egg counts (FECs) and coccidial oocyst counts from faecal analyses for 100 mixed age (3-7 years) indigenous Tswana does. The aims of this experiment were to determine seasonal FECs and coccidial oocysts in these goats and quantify the relationships of these burdens to liveweight and PCV...

In 2010, the National Organic Program implemented a rule for the US stating that pasture must be a significant source of feed in organic ruminant systems. This article will focus on how the pasture rule has impacted the management, economics and nutritional value of products derived from organic ruminant systems and the interactions of grazing cattle with pasture forages and soils. The use of s...

While there is a reasonable volume of literature available on the physiology and ecology of the emu and ostrich there is very limited published information on their specific nutrient requirements. This paper attempts to summarise the information available and draw comparisons. The ostrich has been shown to utilise plant fibre with an efficiency equivalent to mammalian herbivores. The emu has a ...

Abstract Beef production drives a significant proportion of Australia's agricultural economy, representing AUD11 billion in value annually. The profitability cattle farms across seasons varies greatly and is particularly influenced by weather associated uncertainty through pasture growth. Furthermore, producers must be careful managing stocking rates to avoid overgrazing which has environmental...

The genesis of methods for defining the nutritional value of feeds and the nutrient requirements of animals, and their development in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe and the USA are outlined. Current energy and protein feeding systems for ruminants are described. Particular reference is made to the Australian systems which are applicable to grazing animals as well as to those g...

The parameters investigated in this study with the objective of evaluating growth, lactation and reproductive performances, included birth weight, litter size, 0-90 days gain and average daily gain of kids as well as the milk yield and progesterone profile of Red Sokoto does supplemented with crop-residue based rations during the long-dry period of the subhumid zone in Nigeria. A total of 7 tre...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect different pasture systems on beef steers’ performance, dry matter intake, enteric methane emission, carcass production, forage quality, and animal production per hectare (ha). trial conducted at Embrapa Southeast Livestock, São Carlos/SP, Brazil. Sixty Cachim steers (5/8 Charolais × 3/8 Zebu) with initial liveweights 255 ± 7 kg were evaluat...

Sheep (Ovis aries) liveweight and change can contain errors when collection procedures are not standardized, or there varying time delays between removal from grazing weighing. A two-stage study was conducted to determine the effect of herbage availability season year on rate loss during fasting develop validate correction equations applied sets delayed liveweights collected under commercial co...

One IO-day experiment in autumn 1994 then four lo-day experiments throughout the 1994195 lactation in a complete Latin square investigated the effect of pasture species on yield, composition and total colour of milk from dairy cows. Treatments were Grasslands Kopu white clover (Trifolium repens L.), Yatsyn1 perennial ryegrass (L&urn perenne L.), Grasslands Kahu timothy (Phfeum pratense L.) and ...