The effect of multispecies swards on ewe and lamb performance from turnout to weaning.
Methods
A complete randomized design grazing experiment was established to investigate the effect of sward type on ewe and lamb performance from turnout to weaning. Four sward types were compared: a monoculture of PRG, a permanent pasture (PP), a 6 species sward (6SP) and a 12 species sward (12SP) (table 1 - below). Each sward type was managed as a separate farmlet (9ha) and ewes and lambs were rotationally co-grazed with cattle at an overall stocking rate of 2 LU ha-1. Lambs were weighed fortnightly from turnout (4 weeks post lambing) to weaning (16 weeks post lambing) and slaughtered at 42 kg. Ewes were weighed and their body condition score (BCS) recorded monthly. Statistical analysis was performed using mixed model procedure for repeated measures design in R.
Results
Ewe live weight and BCS at weaning were significantly higher (P<0.05) for ewes grazing the 6SP and 12SP swards than the ewes grazing PP and PRG (figure 2 - below). Live weight of lambs grazing 6SP and 12SP were significantly greater at weaning than lambs grazing PRG and PP (P<0.05) (figure 3 - below). Lamb average daily gain (ADG) was significantly greater for lambs grazing 6SP and 12SP compared to lambs grazing PRG and PP (P<0.05) (table 2 - left). At weaning, 26% of lambs in the PRG had achieved target slaughter weight compared to 40% in the PP, 76% in 6 SP and 54% in the 12 SP.
Conclusions
Multispecies swards improved lamb ADG and live weight at weaning compared to PRG and PP swards.
Multispecies sward resulted in higher ewe BCS and live weight at weaning compared to PRG and PP swards.