Hair sheep of Caribbean origin have become an important part of the U.S. sheep industry. Their lack of wool eliminates a number of health concerns and drastically reduces the cost of production. More importantly, Caribbean hair sheep demonstrate robust production performance even in the presence of drug-resistant gastrointestinal nematodes, a rising concern to the industry. Despite the growing ...

Sheep fed on either a low (500 g lucern (Medicago sativa) chaff/d; L) or high (1100 g lucerne chaff/d; H) intake had measurements made, using arterio-venous techniques, of blood flow and energy metabolite and cysteine utilization in the skin. Sheep on the H intake had significantly increased skin blood flow (P = 0.014) and oxygen uptake (P = 0.05). Although the H sheep had higher skin blood flo...

Myostatin (MSTN) has been shown to be a negative regulator of skeletal muscle development and growth. MSTN dysfunction therefore offers a strategy for promoting animal growth performance in livestock production. In this study, we investigated the possibility of using RNAi-based technology to generate transgenic sheep with a double-muscle phenotype. A shRNA expression cassette targeting sheep MS...

Citation: Mi L, Yang B, Hu X, Luo Y, Liu J, Yu Z and Wang J (2018) Comparative Analysis of the Microbiota Between Sheep Rumen and Rabbit Cecum Provides New Insight Into Their Differential Methane Production. Front. Microbiol. 9:575. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00575 Comparative Analysis of the Microbiota Between Sheep Rumen and Rabbit Cecum Provides New Insight Into Their Differential Methane Produ...

J. Anim. Sci. Vol. 88, E-Suppl. 2/J. Dairy Sci. Vol. 93, E-Suppl. 1/Poult. Sci. Vol. 89, E-Suppl. 1 M453 Milk yield and composition from dairy ewes fed two sources of lipid supplements associated or not with conjugated linoleic acid (CLA). M. Baldin1, R. Dresch1, J. Souza1, E. C. Sandri1, F. Batistel1, E. Ticiani1, A. Panzera1, L. O. Tedeschi3, M. A. S. Gama2, D. Fernandes1, and D. E. Oliveira*...

About the authors Dr John Karlsson is a researcher and farmer interested in improving animal production and sustainability via genetic selection. Over the last 30+ years his work has predominantly revolved around optimum production and developing Merino Sheep fit for the local environment including breeding for parasite resistance. Until his recent retirement he was a Senior Veterinary Officer ...

Increasing production efficiency with a high standard of animal welfare and respect for the environment is a goal of sheep farming systems. Substantial gains in productivity have been achieved through improved genetics, nutrition and management changes; however the survival and growth performance of multiple-born lambs still remains a problem. This is a significant production efficiency and ani...

The objective of this review is to explore the current developments on major genes working on prolific sheep breeds and the mechanism behind it, while identifying the future working points. Productivity is the ultimate goal of farm animal production and prolificacy is a key feature in determining productivity in farm animals. Ovulation rate in mammals is an intricate process involving genetics ...

In a study of faeces from 475 slaughter-age cattle and sheep from 19 herds or flocks, Campylobacter species (C. jejuni and C. coli) were cultured from all production systems studied and from 73.7 per cent (14/19) of herds or flocks. Within individual properties there was a higher prevalence in cattle than in sheep, with Campylobacter being most commonly isolated from feedlot cattle. The median ...