Tissue alpha-tocopherol concentrations were determined in 40 lambs following oral supplementation of various forms of vitamin E. Lambs were allocated to 8 dietary groups of 5 animals each and supplemented with or without equimolar amounts (300 mg equivalence) of different vitamin E compounds daily for 60 d as follows: 1) control, no supplemental vitamin E; 2) D-alpha-tocopheryl acetate; 3) DL-a...

Two trials evaluated the effect of a composite of feed ingredients formulated to be similar in nutrient composition to wet distillers byproducts on finishing performance of sheep and cattle. Trial 1 used 60 crossbred lambs (31 kg) assigned to one of four treatments: dry-rolled corn (DRC) control, dried distillers grains plus solubles, wet corn gluten feed (WCGF), and wet distillers grains compo...

Formulated zinc methionyl bST (sometribove, 50, 100, or 150 mg) was administered as a single treatment once every 2 wk or as two equal treatments once/week to evaluate the efficacy of prolonged release delivery of bovine somatotropin (bST) in finishing lambs. Feed conversion during the 6-wk treatment period was improved 9 and 19% in lambs that received treatments once and twice/2 wk, respective...

Until recently, Toxoplasma gondii was considered to be clonal with little genetic variability. In this paper we summarize recent genotyping data from chickens in Brazil, and pigs, lambs and white-tailed deer in the USA, to demonstrate the high genetic diversity and geographical distribution of T. gondii. A total of 149 T. gondii isolates from 13 geographical areas of Brazil and 182 T. gondii is...

The South African Dorper is an important terminal meat sire breed in Africa that was recently imported into the United States. The objective of this study was to evaluate the Dorper as a terminal meat sire breed for U.S. production. Semen from purebred Dorper sires was used to artificially inseminate Columbia ewes to produce F1 crossbred lambs. Growth and carcass characteristics of F1 Dorper-Co...

Twenty-four dual purpose (wool/meat) suckling and early weaned ram lambs were used to study the fatty acid profile in intramuscular fat of longissimus lumborum muscle and lipid oxidation in blood serum. At 60 days of age 12 rams were slaughtered as suckling lambs. The other 12 early weaned and fed according to standards by grass hay and concentrate, and slaughtered at 90 days of age. Suckling l...

The effects of testicular status and diet on the tenderness and flavour intensity of Omani lamb meat were evaluated. Thirty male lambs were divided into three testicular status treatments shortly after birth, entire, castrated or induced to cryptorchidism. The animals were fed a maize and soya bean meal based diet, isocalorically supplemented with either palm fronds or Rhodesgrass hay. The anim...

The National Scrapie Plan (NSP) was launched in Great Britain in 2001, with the aim of eventually eradicating scrapie, a small ruminant transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, from the national sheep flock. Specifically, a selective breeding programme, the Ram Genotyping Scheme, was devised enabling pedigree ram breeders to reduce the number of scrapie-susceptible genotypes from their flocks. ...

The developments in Norwegian sheep breeding since the early 1990s are reviewed. For the largest breeding population, the Norwegian White Sheep, results are presented for both genetic and phenotypic changes. Of the nine traits that make up the aggregate genotype, the largest gain per year, in per cent of the corresponding phenotypic average, was found for carcass grade (1.66%) and carcass weigh...

The present study investigated the effects of supplementing soybean oil (SBO) and sunflower oil (SFO) on the performance of early lactating Awassi ewes, growth of their sucking lambs and on the concentration of total fatty acids in milk and blood of suckling lambs. One hundred and twenty five ewes were randomly assigned into five equal sized treatment groups involved; a control total mixed rati...