Abstract:
Groups of full-mouthed Merino wethers were given 4.25 lb. starch equivalent (4,550 calories of net energy) per sheep per week, to maintain a low to moderate store condition of 75 lb. body weight, on each of four rations, namely 50:50, 30:60, 20:80, and 10:90 mixtures of wheaten chaff and wheat. Finely-ground limestone was added to these rations to correct calcium phosphorus imbalance. The groups were paired, one of each pair being given the food once a week and the other being given it in daily portions. The weekly-fed groups were brought on to this regime during a preparatory period of 77 days during which they were fed at intervals which were gradually increased from 3 to 7 days. The surviving sheep in the daily-fed groups maintained their mean body weight and general condition as well as did those in the weekly-fed groups but at the end of the experiment the range in body weight in the daily-fed groups was greater: 41.9 per cent. of the daily-fed animals gained in weight during the period of 344 days, whereas only 14.2 per cent. of the weekly-fed animals did so. This difference was due largely to differences in rate of food consumption. The rate of consumption of the food by the daily-fed groups increased during the progress of the experiment. The sheep receiving the larger amounts of roughage took longer to consume the daily ration. The sheep in the weekly-fed groups ate the week's ration in 4