Shearing ewes in mid pregnancy can provide farmers with management and financial advantages. Six experiments conducted at Massey University have collectively shown that shearing ewes at this time can increase lamb birthweight by up to 1.0 kg. When comparisons were made across studies, there was a strong negative relationship between size of the response and the birthweight of control lambs (tho...

The single largest influence on the survival of lambs in thefirst few days of life is their birthweight. Fetal growth and birthweight are regulated by genotype of the fetus, maternal genotype, maternal nutrition and the external environment. In this paper we report the extent to which the changes in maternal liveweight during pregnancy and lactation (liveweight profile) ofMerino ewes can be use...

OBJECTIVES To assess safety, tolerance and efficacy of liposomal amphotericin B (LAMB) in a large unselected series of paediatric cancer/haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients requiring LAMB therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study included 84 children and adolescents (median age: 11 years) who received 141 consecutive courses of LAMB for prophylaxis (32), empirical therapy (...

A large sheep dataset including ewe and progeny records from 1982 through to 2006 was used in the present study. The data included the variables: sex of lamb, birth rank, weaning weight, year born and dam and sire. The aim was to firstly, determine if the age of the ewe’s dam, or the birth rank of the ewe affected her lifetime performance and secondly, to determine in twin-born lambs if the sex...

Awassi and Assaf are local Israeli sheep breeds with prolificacies of ~1.30 and ~1.65 lambs born/ewe lambing (LB/EL), respectively. Introgressing the B (Booroola) allele of the FecB locus into these breeds led to the formation of prolific strains designated 'Afec Awassi' and 'Afec Assaf', in which lamb production under both intensive and semi-intensive conditions is higher than in the respectiv...

Neonatal lamb mortality is a major factor affecting profitability in the sheep industry, and lamb thermogenesis is a key element in neonatal lamb survival. Increased lamb vigor has been reported when ewes were supplemented during late gestation with algae-derived docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); however, the effects of DHA on lamb thermogenesis and immunocompetence have not been investigated. Eighty...

A 3-yr study was conducted to comprehensively evaluate Columbia, Suffolk, USMARCComposite (Composite), and Texel breeds as terminal sires in an extensive rangeland production system. The objective was to estimate breed-of-ram effects on ewe fertility, prolifi cacy, and dystocia, and sire breed effects on lamb survival and growth until weaning at approximately 132 d of age. Data were from 22 Col...

A 3-yr study was conducted to comprehensively evaluate Columbia, Suffolk, USMARC-Composite (Composite), and Texel breeds as terminal sires in an extensive rangeland production system. The objective was to estimate breed-of-ram effects on ewe fertility, prolificacy, and dystocia, and sire breed effects on lamb survival and growth until weaning at approximately 132 d of age. Data were from 22 Col...