Sward type alters enteric methane emissions, nitrogen output and the relative abundance of the rumen microbial ecosystem in sheep.

Observed improvements in animal and sward performance, coupled with a desire for more sustainable pasture-based feeding systems, has triggered a surge in the implementation of more botanically diverse pastures. However, thus far, there has been limited research investigating the effects of botanically diverse sward types on enteric methane (CH4) or nitrogen (N) excretion, alongside the ruminal microbiota and fermentation profile, in sheep. Hence, this study investigates the effect of sward type on CH4 production and N excretion, in addition to assessing the rumen microbiome, volatile fatty acid proportions, and ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N) concentration in sheep. A 5 × 5 Latin square design experiment was implemented to investigate 5 dietary treatments; perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.; PRG) only or PRG plus white clover (Trifolium repens L.; PRG + WC), red clover (Trifolium pratense L.; PRG + RC), chicory (Chicorium intybus L.; PRG + Chic) or plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.; PRG + Plan). Diets were mixed at a ratio of 75% PRG and 25% of the respective companion forage and 100% PRG for the PRG treatment, on a dry matter basis. Twenty castrated male sheep were housed in metabolism crates across 5 feeding periods. Methane measurements were acquired utilizing portable accumulation chambers. Rumen fluid was harvested using a transoesophageal sampling device. Microbial rumen DNA was extracted and subjected to 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing and fermentation analysis. Data were analyzed using PROC MIXED in SAS. Results show that animals consuming PRG + WC ranked lower for CH4 production (g/d) than sheep offered PRG, PRG + Chic or PRG + Plan (P < 0.01) while the addition of any companion forage ranked CH4 yield (g/kg dry matter intake (DMI)) lower (P < 0.001) than PRG. There was a moderate positive correlation between DMI and CH4 (g/d; r = 0.51). Ruminal NH3-N was lowest in animals consuming the PRG diet (P < 0.01). There was a greater abundance of Methanobrevibacter and reduced abundance of Methanosphaera (P < 0.001) in sheep offered PRG, compared with any binary sward. On average, herb diets (PRG + Chic or PRG + Plan) reduced the urinary nitrogen concentration of sheep by 34% in comparison to legume diets (PRG + WC or PRG + RC) and 13% relative to the PRG diet (P < 0.001). Sheep offered PRG + Chic had a greater dietary nitrogen use efficiency than PRG + RC (P < 0.05). This study demonstrates the potential for sward type to influence rumen function and the microbial community, along with CH4 and N output from sheep.

Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from ruminants fed forage diets will reduce the carbon footprint of livestock production and the agricultural sector globally, thereby improving the overall environmental sustainability of ruminant production. In the current study, sheep housed in metabolism crates were offered 5 differing zero-grazed sward types. Methane production and methane yield from animals offered diets containing white clover ranked 14% and 27% lower, respectively, in comparison to the perennial ryegrass monoculture. The inclusion of herbs (chicory or plantain) led to an average reduction of 13% and 34% in urinary nitrogen concentration when compared to perennial ryegrass or perennial ryegrass and legume (white clover or red clover) treatments, respectively. Results from the current study support the implementation of binary sward mixtures (perennial ryegrass plus white clover, red clover, chicory, or plantain) as a viable strategy for mitigating methane emissions and nitrogen excretion from pasture-based sheep production systems.

The impact of genetic merit on ewe performance and efficiency parameters.

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of ewe genetic merit on ewe performance and efficiency parameters. The study consisted of three genetic merit groups (New Zealand [NZ], High Irish, and Low Irish) and ran from 2016 to 2019, inclusive. Each genetic merit group contained 30 purebred Suffolk and 30 purebred Texel ewes, which were selected based on their maternal genetic indexes in their country of origin, namely Ireland (€uro-star Replacement index) or New Zealand (New Zealand Maternal worth). Ewe body condition score (BCS), ewe body weight (BW), milk yield, milk composition, dry matter intake (DMI), and efficiency parameters were all analyzed using linear mixed models. Ewe BW was similar across all genetic merit groups at each time point (P > 0.05). In comparison to both High and Low Irish ewes, NZ ewes had a higher BCS at mating, mid-pregnancy, lambing, week 10 post-lambing (PL, P < 0.05). Ewe BW change was similar across genetic merit groups, except between mating and mid-pregnancy where ewe BW loss was greater for NZ ewes than Irish ewes (P < 0.05) and between weeks 6 PL and 10 PL, where NZ ewes gained BW and High and Low Irish ewes lost BW (P < 0.01). Ewe milk yield, milk fat, total solids, and gross energy content were superior for milk produced by NZ ewes at week 6 PL in comparison to milk produced by High Irish and Low Irish ewes (P < 0.01). NZ ewes produced a greater quantity of milk solids/kg of BW at week 6 PL compared with High Irish ewes (P < 0.01), whereas Low Irish ewes did not differ from either NZ or High Irish (P > 0.05). Low Irish ewes had a greater daily DMI than High Irish ewes in late lactation (week 10 PL, P < 0.05) and had a greater DMI/kg of ewe BW compared with the High Irish ewes at the same time point (P < 0.05). NZ ewes weaned a litter BW equivalent to 60.4% of their mating BW, which was more than the Low Irish ewes who weaned 57.1% of the ewe's BW at mating (P < 0.01), whereas the High Irish ewes did not differ from either the NZ or Low Irish ewes at 59.3% of the ewe's BW at mating (P > 0.05). This study presents a range of parameters across ewes of high and low genetic merit, demonstrating the ability to achieve gains through selection of animals of high genetic merit. Sheep producers should consider genetic indexes as a tool to assist in the decision-making process of selecting replacement ewes and/or breeding rams, once satisfied the animal is correct, and meeting the breeding objectives of the system.

Infrared thermography as a tool to detect hoof lesions in sheep.

Lameness has a major negative impact on sheep production. The objective of this study was to 1) quantify the repeatability of sheep hoof temperatures estimated using infrared thermography (IRT); 2) determine the relationship between ambient temperature, sheep hoof temperature, and sheep hoof health status; and 3) validate the use of IRT to detect infection in sheep hooves. Three experiments (a repeatability, exploratory, and validation experiment) were conducted over 10 distinct nonconsecutive days. In the repeatability experiment, 30 replicate thermal images were captured from each of the front and back hooves of nine ewes on a single day. In the exploratory experiment, hoof lesion scores, locomotion scores, and hoof thermal images were recorded every day from the same cohort of 18 healthy ewes in addition to a group of lame ewes, which ranged from one to nine ewes on each day. Hoof lesion and locomotion scores were blindly recorded by three independent operators. In the validation experiment, all of the same procedures from the exploratory experiment were applied to a new cohort of 40 ewes across 2 d. The maximum and average temperature of each hoof was extracted from the thermal images. Repeatability of IRT measurements was assessed by partitioning the variance because of ewe and error using mixed models. The relationship between ambient temperature, hoof temperature, and hoof health status was quantified using mixed models. The percentage of hooves correctly classified as healthy (i.e., specificity) and infected (i.e., sensitivity) was calculated for a range of temperature thresholds. Results showed that a small-to-moderate proportion of the IRT-estimated temperature variability in a given hoof was due to error (1.6% to 20.7%). A large temperature difference (8.5 °C) between healthy and infected hooves was also detected. The maximum temperature of infected hooves was unaffected by ambient temperature (P > 0.05), whereas the temperature of healthy hooves was associated with ambient temperature. The best sensitivity (92%) and specificity (91%) results in the exploratory experiment were observed when infected hooves were defined as having a maximum hoof temperature ≥9 °C above the average of the five coldest hooves in the flock on that day. When the same threshold was applied to the validation dataset, a sensitivity of 77% and specificity of 78% was achieved, indicating that IRT could have the potential to detect infection in sheep hooves.