| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
ANIMAL PRODUCTION |
* Grup de Recerca en Remugants, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain;
and
Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay; and
and
UMR Élevage des Ruminants en Régions Chaudes, Campus ENSAM-INRA-PHASE, Montpellier, France
3 Corresponding author: gerardo.caja{at}uab.es
Three types of ceramic mini-boluses, B1 [13.8 g; 10.5 x 51.0 mm (o.d. x length)], B2 (16.2 g; 12.2 x 42.2 mm), and B3 (20.1 g; 11.2 x 56.4 mm), were used to electronically identify as soon as possible after birth a total of 545 lambs of 3 breeds: Ripollesa (meat breed, n = 274), Manchega (dairy breed, n = 129), and Lacaune (dairy breed, n = 142). Boluses were administered by a trained operator using a balling gun or directly by hand. Lambs were also identified with 2 types of plastic ear tags in the left (temporary, 1.5 g) and the right (permanent, 4.1 g) ears. Lamb and identification device performances were checked during suckling (to wk 5 or 7) and fattening. At 24 kg of BW, lambs were slaughtered (n = 385) or kept for breeding (n = 144). No differences in performance were observed between the 2 dairy breeds, and their data were pooled. Minimum BW for bolus administration was lower in dairy than in meat lambs (P < 0.001). Across breeds, B1 and B3 did not differ in lamb age (27 d) and weight (9.2 kg) at administration, but B2 required older and heavier lambs (33 d and 11.1 kg; P < 0.01). Boluses did not affect lamb performance, but final readability at slaughter differed between B1 and B2 (97.7 and 95.2%, respectively) and B3 (100%), and between ear tags (temporary, 98.1; permanent, 100%). Bolus recovery was 100% in all cases, but the proportion of boluses found in the reticulum varied among bolus type (83.3 to 93.8%; P < 0.05). Three B1 (2%) were recovered from the abomasum. In a second experiment, effects of the intermediate mini-bolus (B2) on diet digestibility were evaluated. Digestibility of control and bolus-administered, Manchega ram lambs (14.9 kg of BW; n = 8) fed ad libitum with 2 pelleted concentrates and barley straw was assessed in digestibility crates. Feed intake and nutrient digestibility were measured in four 21-d periods, during which lambs received the 2 diets consecutively. No differences in intake, growth performance, or nutrient digestibility were observed between control and bolused lambs. In conclusion, the B3 mini-bolus proved to be an efficient device for identification of lambs before weaning (recommended age, >4 wk; recommended BW, >10 kg), allowing a reliable traceability of dairy and meat lambs until slaughter.
Key Words: digestibility • electronic identification • lamb • rumen bolus
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  S. Carne, T. A. Gipson, M. Rovai, R. C. Merkel, and G. Caja Extended field test on the use of visual ear tags and electronic boluses for the identification of different goat breeds in the United States J Anim Sci, July 1, 2009; 87(7): 2419 - 2427. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 S. Carne, G. Caja, J. J. Ghirardi, and A. A. K. Salama Long-term performance of visual and electronic identification devices in dairy goats J Dairy Sci, April 1, 2009; 92(4): 1500 - 1511. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
