Determination of Weaning Time of Dombos Lamb Based on Suckling and Eating Behavior and Body Weight Gain
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Indonesian Center for Animal Science Research and Development (ICARD)
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This observation was aimed to determine the suckling and eating duration and body weight gain in Dombos (Domba Wonosobo) lamb aged less than 3 months old to forecast the weaning time. Thirty three male and female lambs with birth type single and twins were used in this study. The equipments for collecting data used webcam that was connected to computer to record the activity of suckling and eating. Data were recorded in 3×24 h per ewe-lamb, then the tape was analyzed and recorded manually. The results showed that suckling duration has a high correlation with age (r = -0.821), and the lowest duration was found at week 9, being 5.4 minutes per day. Eating duration and age was highly correlated (r = 0.844) with the longest duration was found at week 10, being 178 minutes per day. The body weight gain has a moderate correlation to age (r = 0.431) with the highest body weight gain at week 6, being 1.9 kg per week. Based on correlation among age, suckling and eating duration, as well as body weight gain, it is predicted that proposed weaning time of lamb was at week 8th. It is concluded from this observation that duration of suckling and eating of lambs were inversely correlated, and lamb was proposed to be weaned at age of 8 weeks.
Keywords
Weaningtime; Suckling; Eating; Body Weight Gain