Pre-Exposure of Early-Weaned Lambs to a Herb-Clover Mix Does Not Improve Their Subsequent Growth.

Twin sets of lambs were randomly allocated to one of six treatments: (1) lambs born and managed on ryegrass-clover-based pasture until conventional weaning approximately at 99 days of age (Grass-Grass); (2) lambs born on ryegrass-clover-based pasture and early weaned onto a herb-clover mix at ~45 days of age (Grass-Herb); (3) lambs born on ryegrass-clover-based pasture, transferred with their dam onto a herb-clover mix at ~45 days of age until conventional weaning (Grass-Herb); (4) lambs born on ryegrass-clover-based pasture, transferred with their dam onto a herb-clover mix at ~15 days of age and early weaned onto a herb-clover mix at ~45 days of age (Grass-Herb); (5) lambs born and managed on herb-clover mix until conventional weaning (Herb-Herb); (6) lambs born on herb-clover mix and weaned early onto a herb-clover mix at ~45 days of age (Herb-Herb). In both years, Herb-Herb lambs had greater ( < 0.05) growth rates than lambs in other treatments.

Lambs Weaned Early onto a Herb-Clover Mix Have the Potential to Grow at a Similar Rate to Unweaned Lambs on a Grass-Predominant Pasture.

Liveweight gain of lambs weaned early at a minimum live weight of 14 kg, at ~50 days of age, onto a herb-clover mix was compared with lambs that remained unweaned on a grass-predominant pasture or a herb-clover mix until conventional weaning (at ~99 days of age). Over two years, twin sets of lambs that had a minimum live weight of 14 kg were randomly allocated to one of three treatments: (1) Early weaning of lambs onto a herb-clover mix (Herb); (2) ewes and lambs grazing a herb-clover mix until conventional weaning (Herb); and (3) ewes and lambs grazing a grass-predominant pasture until conventional weaning (Grass). Herb lambs had slower ( < 0.