Effect of restricted suckling on growth characteristics in Colombian hair sheep

Objetive. To evaluate the effect of restricted suckling (RS) on growth parameters adjusted weight (AW) and daily weight gain (DWG), body condition (BC) and FAMACHA® score (FA) during lactation and post-weaning in Colombian hair sheep (CHS). Materials and methods. 76 CHS with cries were assigned to one of two treatments. Treatment 1 (T1), lambs with continuous suckling (CS): 24 hours with the dam (n= 38). Treatment 2 (T2), restricted suckling (RS), 10 hours (n= 38). Measurements were taken every 30 days from birth to 210 days with weaning at 90 days. AW, DWG, BC and FA were evaluated, and the data were analyzed with a linear fixed-effects and repeated measures model and Tukey-Kramer test. Results. AW before 60 days did not vary significantly between T1 and T2. After weaning and until the end of the experiment, BP were significantly (p<0.001) higher in T2. Average pre-weaning GPD did not vary between T1 and T2 (p= 0.053). Post-weaning DWG varied significantly (p<0.001) between T1 and T2 (82.38±17.4 and 123.95±20.6 g/day respectively). After weaning BC was higher (p<0.001) in lambs at T2. No differences were found in FA during lactation. After weaning, T2 presented better qualification (p<0.001). Conclusions. T1 and T2 presented the same performance at weaning. However, the differences from weaning to seven months of age were in favor of lambs submitted to T2.