Sixty-two piglets weaned at three weeks of age were allotted, in pairs, to four experimental diets (14 piglets to one diet and 16 piglets to each of the other three diets), and fed until 10 weeks of age. The diets…
An experiment with 200 day-old male broiler chickens was conducted to investigate the effect of the dietary supplementation of turmeric rhizome powder (TRP) on plasma lipoprotein concentrations, and the meat quality and fatty acid composition of the thigh muscle of…
The relationship between beef bull libido and conception rate following a 21-day breeding period was investigated over two seasons. Libido was defined as the number of services completed during a 10-minute exposure to a restrained oestrous female. In the first…
Testicular development from 3 to 14 months of age was examined in Dorper (DD), Dohne Merino (DM) and crossbred (Meatmaster; MM) rams. Testicular measurements included testis volume (TV), diameter (TD), length (TL) and scrotal circumference (SC). Both TD and SC…
The repeatability of reproduction rate at 2 years or up to 3 years of age was investigated by regression methods considering subsequent reproduction averaged over a number of lambing opportunities or within subsequent age groups. Results from the study suggested…
Data of the Tygerhoek Merino flock were used to obtain estimates of genetic correlations of 18 months wool and pre-mating live mass traits with average reproduction over two to five lambing opportunities, as well as between pre-mating live mass and…
Data of the Tygerhoek Merino flock were used to obtain halfsib heritability estimates for the components of reproduction rate within age groups as well as averaged over a number of lambing opportunities. Two separate sets of data were considered. The…
The effects of energy and crude protein (CP) supplementation on feed intake of lactating ewes grazing native pasture (veld) were studied during two autumn (1981 and 1982) and two spring (1983 and 1984) lambing seasons. The CP content of the…
The effects of energy and crude protein (CP) supplementation on diurnal and seasonal variations in rumen pH and concentrations of ammonia (NH3) in lactating ewes grazing native pasture (veld) were studied during two autumn (1981 and 1982) and two spring…
The experiment was conducted to compare the mobile nylon bag technique (MNBT) with conventional digestibility techniques for the estimation of digestible energy (DE) in pig diets. Factors investigated were the effect of washing after retrieval, predigestion time, particle size, retention…
Two experiments were conducted to (i) determine the effect of thermal ammoniation (NH3BPS) and heat treatment (HBPS) of birdproof sorghum (BPS) on energy and N metabolism, measured with intact and ileo-rectal anastomosed pigs and (ii) to evaluate NH3BPS and untreated…
Five experiments were conducted to devise a feeding strategy to reduce fat deposition in broiler chickens. From these experiments it was determined that early feed restrictions, beginning at 7 days of age, decreased body fat, improved FCE, and had little…
Ovarian activity was studied in 36 dry, Bos taurus cows fed to achieve different rates of body mass loss and gain in a 2 x 2 factorial experiment. Cows were fed hay to supply either 70% (Treatments 1, 2) or…
Urea-supplemented wheat straw (UWS) was substituted stepwise by urea-ammoniated wheat straw (AWS) in diets fed to SA Mutton Merino ewes during late pregnancy and lactation. The experimental animals were fed ad libitum under zero grazing conditions over the last 8…
Problems relating to the anticipation and elimination of poor production due to mineral deficiencies in grazing livestock will be examined in this paper. Its concern is with subclinical problems rather than catastrophic clinical problems. The ways in which hypothetical models…
The protein degradability of various South African ruminant feed protein sources was determined in the rumen of cannulated lactating dairy cattle. The effective protein degradability was calculated at different fractional outflow rates, using the nylon bag technique. The degradability values…
Although the protein requirement of domestic ruminants may be calculated from a simple one-compartment model, this approach ignores factors such as microbial fermentation in the rumen and the non-equality of feed proteins. By examining digestion in each of the functional…
Growth rate, average daily gain, feed conversion ratio, muscle pH, backfat thickness, dressing percentage, drip loss, cooking loss, water holding capacity, and shear force were measured in 47 South African Landrace gilts of which 30 were…
The effect of age and parity of Afrikaner and Hereford cows on the weaning traits of their calves. Data from a registered Hereford herd and a registered Afrikaner herd were used to investigate the influence…
Acacia tortilis twigs with leaves or seedpods, from the Tugela valley, were milled and fed to five two-tooth wethers for 6 days in separate digestion trials, after a suitable adaptation period. The twigs with leaves contained 10,8% CP…
