Pasture type in relation to live-weight gain, carcass composition, iodine nutrition and some rumen characteristics of sheep I. Live-weight growth of the sheep

Abstract

1. Two trials are described in which the live weights of sheep grazing four different pastures were compared. The four pastures comprised perennial rye-grass (P), perennial rye-grass plus white clover (P + C), short-rotation rye-grass (S), short-rotation rye-grass plus white clover (S + C).2. Large and highly significant differences existed between the mean live weight of the sheep on the various pastures in each trial. Thus the P sheep had a mean live weight of 107 and 102 lb. in trials I and II, respectively, at the end of each investigation, the P + C sheep 123 and 122 lb., the S sheep 125 and 126 lb., and the S + C sheep 140 and 137 lb.3. The differences in live-weight growth on the four pastures contain two major effects; an effect due to the difference between P and S and an effect which can be attributed to the presence of white clover in the pasture treatment.