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Wool quality traits of purebred and crossbred Merino lambs orally drenched with Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis)
Citation
Holman, BWB and Kashani, A and Malau-Aduli, AEO, Wool quality traits of purebred and crossbred Merino lambs orally drenched with Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis), Italian Journal of Animal Science, 13, (2) pp. 387-391. ISSN 0390-0487 (2014) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2014 The Authors-This article has been distributed under the terms of The Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported license. (CC BY-NC 3.0)
DOI: doi:10.4081/ijas.2014.3174
Abstract
The objective of this study was to evaluate
the effect of Spirulina supplementation, sire
breed and sex on the wool characteristics of
purebred and crossbred Merino weaned lambs
under a single pasture-based management
system. Lambs sired by Merino, White Suffolk,
Dorset, Black Suffolk breeds were randomly
allocated into 3 treatments – the control group
grazing without Spirulina (0 mL), low (100
mL) and high (200 mL) Spirulina groups. All
lambs were kept as a single mob in paddocks,
grazed for 9 weeks and wool samples analysed.
Differences in wool quality between the control
and supplemented groups were not significant
(P>0.05). However, sire breed significantly
(P<0.001) influenced fibre diameter,
spinning fineness, comfort factor and fibre
curvature with purebred Merinos having superior
wool quality than crossbreds. Wethers
grew higher quality wool than ewes. Spirulina
has a potential as an alternative supplementary
bioresource in dual-purpose sheep feeding
because it does not compromise wool quality
in supplemented weaner lambs.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | Spirulina, wool quality, Merino cross-bred, supplementation, dual purpose |
Research Division: | Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences |
Research Group: | Animal production |
Research Field: | Animal reproduction and breeding |
Objective Division: | Animal Production and Animal Primary Products |
Objective Group: | Livestock raising |
Objective Field: | Sheep for wool |
UTAS Author: | Holman, BWB (Mr Benjamin Holman) |
UTAS Author: | Kashani, A (Mr Arash Kashani) |
UTAS Author: | Malau-Aduli, AEO (Associate Professor Aduli Malau-Aduli) |
ID Code: | 73381 |
Year Published: | 2014 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 2 |
Deposited By: | Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture |
Deposited On: | 2011-09-29 |
Last Modified: | 2017-09-15 |
Downloads: | 410 View Download Statistics |
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