THE UTILIZATION OF DRIED GRASS BY EARLY WEANED LAMBS

Three groups of 8 Polled Dorset Iambs were weaned at 8 weeks of age and were fed dried grass, a 50–50 mixture of dried grass and protein‐supplemented barley and protein‐supplemented barley. All rations were completed. Digestibility trials were also conducted and the effect of level of feed intake on nutrient digestibility investigated. The dried grass resulted in rates of gain comparable to those produced by the pelleted barley ration. Feed conversion efficiency was lowest for the grass and highest for the barley ration. An interaction between the dried grass and barley was observed in nutrient digestibility. Increasing the level of feeding from approximately maintenance to appetite tended to result in slight depressions in the digestibility of energy and protein of all rations. The results suggest that dried grass can be used successfully for intensive feeding of early weaned lambs and little nutritional advantage appears to be gained from combining dried grass with barley.