Production by wethers fed oats, wheat, and lupins, with dry annual pasture in north-eastern Victoria

Abstract

An experiment was conducted at Rutherglen Research Institute in autumn 1979 to evaluate various grain supplements for the fattening of 18-month-old Merino wethers intended for the live export market. All sheep had mature, dry pasture, harvested during mid summer, freely on offer. This herbage contained 9% crude protein and was 47% digestible. Wheat, oats or lupins were fed as supplements at 0, 180, 360, 540 g/head.d and ad libitum. Mixed grain rations were also studied: lupins were fed at 0, 90, 180 and 270 g/head.d with either wheat or oats ad libitum. Wethers were fed these rations for nine weeks and fasted liveweight, wool growth, and body condition score were measured. Animals were then slaughtered and carcases weighed. Animal performance was positively related to the rate of grain intake. Ad libitum intakes of wheat and oats were low - 450 and 520 g/head.d respectively, and only maintained liveweights. in contrast, lupins fed ad libitum were consumed at 650 g/head.d, which resulted in significant increases in live and carcase weight - 4 kg and 3.8 kg respectively. Pasture intake was reduced by one third with all ad libitum grain rations. The addition of lupins at 180 g/head.d to wheat or oats increased the ad libitum intakes of the cereal grains to 550 and 650 g/head.d, respectively, with associated liveweight gains of 1.0 and 4.5 kg for the nine week period. Intake of cereal grains was generally low compared with that in other published reports; but all rations containing more than 10% lupins showed promise as supplements for fattening wethers.