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The shelter requirements of the new-born lamb
Sykes AR
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 42, pp 7-12, Jan 1982
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 42, pp 7-12, Jan 1982
Article class: Conference Presentation
Subject Terms: Animal welfare, Behaviour, Disease/defect, Environment, Husbandry/husbandry procedures, Metabolic disease, Mortality/morbidity, Neonatal, Reproduction, Reproduction - female, Temperature
Animal Type: Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant, Sheep, Sheep - lamb
Publisher: New Zealand Society of Animal ProductionAbstract
Surveys of peri-natal mortality attribute 25 to 30% of lamb deaths to starvation/exposure, base don exhaustion of visible fat reserves. The ability of the new-born lamb to prevent this loss of body reserves depends on a complex series of relationships involving capacity for thermogenesis in relation to heat loss and ability to secure adequate further resources of energy in milk. Heat production and loss in lambs are described and values for the lower critical temperatures of lambs derived. The immediate peri-natal responses and differences between breeds are discussed in relation to survival. The derivation of effective ambient temperature and its use in assessing shelter requirements of lambs are discussed. Animal behaviour and practical matters are considered.The whole of the literary matter of the Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production is copyright New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Downloading this article signifies agreement with the terms and conditions of electronic access.
