Effect of ewe age on productivity
Effect of ewe age on productivity
All flocks contain ewes of varying ages with older ewes being culled for reasons such as mouth issues, infertility, mastitis, ill-health or low productivity. Some flocks cull ewes based solely on age so it is important to understand how age affects productivity. As a ewe ages her mothering ability improves with each litter which will reduce lamb mortality and improve subsequent lamb performance. As ewes up to 5 years litter size, birth weight, number of lambs reared and lamb performance increase when over 5 years of age lamb output and performance plateaus. Ewe prolificacy or lamb performance does not decline when ewes lamb at older ages meaning there is no reason to cull on age alone. Retaining older productive ewes in the flock will increase flock output and reduce replacement costs without having any adverse effects on the weight of lamb weaned per ewe.
All flocks contain ewes of varying ages with older ewes being culled for reasons such as mouth issues, infertility, mastitis, ill-health or low productivity. Some flocks cull ewes based solely on age so it is important to understand how age affects productivity. As a ewe ages her mothering ability improves with each litter which will reduce lamb mortality and improve subsequent lamb performance. As ewes up to 5 years litter size, birth weight, number of lambs reared and lamb performance increase when over 5 years of age lamb output and performance plateaus. Ewe prolificacy or lamb performance does not decline when ewes lamb at older ages meaning there is no reason to cull on age alone. Retaining older productive ewes in the flock will increase flock output and reduce replacement costs without having any adverse effects on the weight of lamb weaned per ewe.
SheepNet : SHaring Expertise and Experience towards sheep Productivity through NETworking (2 of 2)
Ongoing | 2016-2019
- Main funding source
- Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- France