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Physiological state of sheep before and during fattening

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

N. McC. Graham ,
T. W. Searle ,
D. E. Margan ,
F. B. Spence  and
P. C. Wynn
N. McC. Graham
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Animal Production, PO Box 239, Blacktown, NSW 2148, Australia
T. W. Searle
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Animal Production, PO Box 239, Blacktown, NSW 2148, Australia
D. E. Margan
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Animal Production, PO Box 239, Blacktown, NSW 2148, Australia
F. B. Spence
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Animal Production, PO Box 239, Blacktown, NSW 2148, Australia
P. C. Wynn
Affiliation:
CSIRO Division of Animal Production, PO Box 239, Blacktown, NSW 2148, Australia
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Summary

Various physiological characteristics of castrate male sheep fed ad libitum were studied between 1986 and 1987 in Australia. The sheep were between 20 and 45 kg live weight (LW) before and during fattening. Sequential data on body composition, estimated from TOH space (starting at 10 kg), established that the weight gain contained 19% fat and 13% protein below c. 26 kg LW and 55% fat and 10% protein above. For a given feed intake, the rate of fat gain was constant but the rate of body protein gain was 45% lower above 26 kg LW. Voluntary feed consumption per unit weight peaked at 26 kg LW and declined thereafter. There was an increase at 45 kg LW in weight of rumen digesta per unit feed intake and in digestibility; metabolizable energy (ME) per kg feed was increased as a result by 6–9%. Efficiency of use of ME, determined by calorimetry, increased from 44% in the lower weight range to 53% in the higher; utilization of nitrogen decreased from 37 to 28%. Partition of ME and energy gain suggested that the energetic efficiency of neither fat nor protein deposition changed between the two weight ranges. Change in the amount of DNA (‘cell number’) rather than g tissue/mg DNA (‘cell size’) accounted for weight change in three muscles and most digestive organs. Exceptions were the rumen, in which cell number and size both contributed to gain and the large intestine, in which cell size diminished during growth. It was concluded that fattening in sheep reflects diminution of the protein content of weight gain due to a decrease in the efficiency of protein utilization at the tissue level.

Type
Animals
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 117 , Issue 3 , December 1991 , pp. 371 - 379
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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