Effects of available nutrition and sire breeding values for growth and muscling on the development of crossbred lambs. 1: Growth and carcass characteristics

The growth and development of 387 crossbred lamb progeny from 9 Poll Dorset sires representing muscle (M), control (C), and growth (G) sire-types was studied. Sireswere selected on the basis of their LAMBPLAN estimated breeding values (EBVs) for post-weaning growth (PWWT) and depth of loin muscle (PEMD). Lambs were provided with either LOW or HIGH levels of available grazing nutrition from 10 days of age onwards. Liveweight gain (LWG) throughout the study was less on LOW nutrition than on HIGH nutrition, leading to a 9.5 kg lower weaning liveweight (LW) and a 14.9 kg lower final LW in LOW lambs. After adjustment for final LW, HIGH lambs had significantly greater fat depth at the C-site (approximately 40mm from the midline over the 12th rib) and tissue depth at the GR site (110 mm from the midline over the 12th rib) than did LOW lambs. This effect was consistent across sire-types. Depth of fat at the C-site was positively associated with the EBV of the sire for fat depth. The improvement in pre-weaning LWG, weaning weight, and final weight of lambs resulting from use of sires with a greater PWWT EBV was dependent upon the level of nutrition. This interaction was identified as different slopes (coefficients) for the regression between PWWT and trait for the 2 nutrition levels, indicating that the expression of the sire's genetic potential for growth at these times was signifcantly moderated by nutrition. The additional depth of lamb loin muscle resulting from use of sires of higher PEMD EBV was consistent across both LOW and HIGH nutrition treatments, with 1mm of PEMD leading to a 0.6-mm increase in loin depth. Other consequences of sires having a high genetic capacity for loin muscle depth were reduced carcass C-fat depth with increasing sire PEMD and a tendency for conformation score to improve with the PEMD of the sire. The wool-growth response to improved nutrition was less in M lambs than in lambs of other sire-types, suggesting a difference in priority for protein partitioning between muscle and wool in lambs differing in genetic propensity for muscle growth.