New Concept of Sheep Growth

Abstract

Sheep are one of the most important animal agricultural species and how they grow is a topic of interest to farmers and agricultural scientists world-wide. This book, published in 1988, lays the foundation for an understanding of how tissues grow in relation to each other and to the maturity of sheep. It first describes the growth of a single sheep and then goes on to show how mature size, castration, gender, and breeds affect body composition at given stages of growth. Special emphasis is placed on modern quantitative methods to define the relative maturing rate, Q, of various parts of the body. The author makes use of an extensive data base on the body composition of Australian Merino and Dorset Horn breeds for comparison purposes. Detailed appendices define terminology, techniques for carcass dissection, suggestion indices for describing changes in body composition during growth, and provide detailed data on dissectible muscle weights in sheep. This classical book should be included in the collections of agricultural scientists and livestock farmers.