Effects of shearing, forage type and feed value, concentrate feed level, and protein concentration on the performance of housed finishing lambs.

The effects of high and medium feed value grass silage or maize silage (MS), each offered with a range of concentrate feed levels, and ad libitum concentrate on the performance of finishing lambs, which were either shorn or unshorn, were evaluated. Three silages were used: 1 medium feed value (MFV) and 1 high feed value (HFV) grass silage (DM digestibility [DMD] of 71.3% and 74.5%, respectively) and 1 MS (DM and starch concentrations of 30.9% and 35.3% DM, respectively). The 3 silages were offered ad libitum with daily allowances of 0.4, 0.8, or 1.2 kg concentrate per lamb. Two additional treatments were: 1) MS supplemented with 0.4 kg of a low CP (LP) concentrate and 2) concentrate offered ad libitum with 0.5 kg/d of HFV grass silage. These 11 dietary treatments were offered to 264 crossbred Suffolk lambs (initial BW = 39.0 kg), half of which were unshorn and half of which were shorn, for a 54-d finishing period, resulting in 22 treatments. Shearing increased forage DMI (P < 0.001) but did not alter (P > 0.05) carcass weight, carcass gain, or ADG, and there was no interaction with dietary treatment. Reducing CP concentration of the concentrate offered with MS did not alter (P > 0.05) feed intake or lamb performance. Increasing concentrate feed level increased feed DMI and lamb performance (P < 0.001). The linear response in ADG to increased concentrate supplementation was greater (P = 0.012) for MFV than HFV grass silage, and a corresponding difference in carcass gain approached significance (P = 0.075). The linear response was greater for grass silage than for MS for ADG (P < 0.01) and carcass gain (P = 0.019). The response in lamb performance from increased concentrate supplementation was linear for HFV grass silage and MS but quadratic (P < 0.05) for the MFV grass silage, reflecting the large response for this silage when concentrate supplement was increased from 0.4 to 0.8 kg. Relative to the MFV grass silage supplemented with 0.8 kg concentrate, the potential concentrate-sparing effects of the HFV grass silage and MS were 0.16 and 0.32 kg concentrate per lamb daily, respectively. It is concluded that shearing lambs that are housed during finishing reduces the efficiency of the conversion of ME to carcass gain. Maize silage can replace HFV grass silage in the diet of finishing lambs. The total dietary protein concentration for finishing lambs can be reduced to 9% DM without adversely affecting carcass gain.