Effects of some management procedures on the responses of sheep to molasses-urea blocks

Abstract

A total of 960 sheep were used in a factorial experiment to test the effects of four treatments aimed at improving responses to molasses-urea blocks. The treatments were (a) 200 g oat grain sprinkled on the top of the blocks once daily for the first 7 days, compared with the absence of oats; (b) the inclusion, for the first 2 days, of four additional sheep that had previous experience with blocks and were regular consumers of them, compared with the absence of such sheep; (c) the use of quiet, handled ('tame') sheep, compared with sheep that were relatively nervous and frightened ('wild') ; (d) the use of three differently-constituted blocks, containing 0, 5 and 10% urea, compared with three blocks of the same formulation, containing 5% urea. Each group comprised 20 sheep confined in yards and fed hay in addition to the molasses-urea blocks. The intakes of blocks, and the number of sheep licking the blocks during 3-week periods were measured. In general, the treatments had no consistent effects on the responses of the sheep, but some groups of sheep were more responsive to particular treatments than others. There were no obvious reasons for such variability, Intakes of blocks increased with time (3660, 6373 and 81 25 g group week-1 for weeks 1, 2 and 3, respectively), and the percentage of groups that had consumed a block by the end of each week increased with time (86, 89 and 96% in weeks 1, 2 and 3 respectively). It was concluded that it is extremely difficult to influence the behaviour of sheep by management procedures such as those used in this experiment.