Animal Production Science
Volume 65
Number 6 2025
The use of dietary garlic to enhance ruminant productivity has gained attention in the animal production industry due to its several pharmacological properties. However, there are inconsistent results on the effects of dietary garlic on ruminant productivity. This meta-analysis demonstrated the efficacy of dietary garlic intervention in enhancing small ruminant productivity while reducing methane emissions.
Melatonin implants have been used to improve the survival and growth of lambs, and the improvement of colostrum and milk quality. In this study, we have demonstrated that implanting ewes 30 days before lambing increased growth rates of lambs, particularly in males. Moreover, implanting lambs at 45 days of age produced the highest growth and feed conversion rates in the fattening period. Melatonin treatments pregnant ewes and lambs at weaning are promising methods for increasing productivity of lamb meat production.
GreenFeed units are widely used globally to measure methane emissions. In grazing systems, cattle may decrease their visitation frequency to these units, leading to an increased number of measurement days or animals required to precisely determine greenhouse gas emissions. In total, 12–18 measurement days and 9–19 animals are required to estimate methane emissions in grazing cows and heifers.
This article belongs to the collection: Australasian Dairy Science Symposium 2024.
An adequate understanding of how the energy required to maintain a growing animal changes with body mass is critical to development of efficient animal production systems. Previously we reported that a cubic relationship existed between these variables; therefore, we aimed to determine whether causal factors could be identified that explained this finding. Protein turnover, fat turnover, and rate of growth explained the cubic relationship between maintenance costs and body mass, and identified the energetically optimal mass of a growing animal.
The efficacy of plant bioactives in supporting health and productivity of lactating cows and growing ruminants under heat stress remains underexplored. This review provides an overview of existing studies to address this gap. Heat-stressed animals may experience reduced feed intake, compromised immunity, oxidative stress, and productivity losses. Some phytogenics have shown promise in mitigating these effects, especially in lactating cows. However, further research, particularly in pre-weaning calves and under different heat stress severity and durations is needed to validate these findings.
and M. Mabelebele
