PERFORMANCE OF LAMBS FED MILK REPLACERS HAVING TWO LEVELS OF FAT

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to study the growth performance of lambs artificially reared and fed lamb milk replacers (MR) containing 30% fat (HF) or 24% fat (LF) in the dry powder. Both MR contained 24% crude protein, were identically supplemented with vitamins and minerals and were reconstituted at one part powder to five parts water. There were no differences in weaning weights (WW) or average daily gains (ADG) among the HF vs. LF lambs in the first experiment. In the second experiment both WW and ADG were significantly (P < 0.05) higher for LF lambs compared to HF lambs. There were no differences in ADG among lambs weaned from MR at an average age of 28 days and those weaned at 21 days of age for either of the two MR. The effects of MR fat level were identical at both weaning ages. Survival rates and feed consumption were similar for lambs fed the two MR. It was concluded that the fat level of MR could be reduced to 24% without adversely affecting lamb performance and that such a reduction would have substantial economic benefits because of the lower cost of the MR with the reduced fat level. Key words: Lambs, milk replacers, artificial rearing, fat levels