A note on the effects of clipping pregnant ewes at housing

Abstract

SUMMARYEighty pregnant ewes, housed in December approximately 14 weeks before lambing, were offered grass silage to appetite. The factors considered were breed (Greyface or North Country Cheviot), concentrate level during the final 7 weeks of pregnancy (‘normal’ or ‘high’) and clipping (clipped at housing or left undipped at housing). Silage intakes were affected by level of concentrate supplementation, the higher level tending to reduce intakes during the final weeks of pregnancy but no effect of clipping on silage intakes was detected. Level of concentrate had no effect on lambing performance, but ewes clipped at housing produced lambs which were 1 kg heavier (P<0·05) at birth than lambs from undipped ewes. Time of clipping had a significant effect on wool yields but no effect on wool grades.