Supplementary forage for grazing sheep. 2. Effects on weaned lambs

Abstract

In two experiments weaned entire ram lambs were offered either pasture alone or pasture plus ad libitum conserved forage for 7–12 weeks during the finishing period. Herbage height was maintained at 3·2 cm on both treatments by manipulation of stocking rate in the twenty‐four plots (twelve per treatment) used for the experiment. In experiment 1 silage, which was of lower metabolizable energy (ME) and crude protein (CP) content than the grazed herbage, was consumed at an average of 194 g DM head−1 d−1, providing approximately 40% of total DM intake requirements. In experiment 2 a strawmix, containing (g k g −1 freshweight) 450 g barley straw, 300 g concentrate and 250 g molasses and again with a lower ME and CP content than the grazed herbage, was consumed at an average of 57 g DM head−1 d−1, providing approximately 11% of total DM intake requirements. In both experiments stocking rate was increased by 20–25% by providing forage, but lamb growth rate was not affected.