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Simple Summary: Early nutritional intervention in young animals can regulate physiological and growth performance at later stages. Previous studies have shown that early supplementation with starters can improve lamb growth performance; however, most of them focus on physiological changes in the short period before and after weaning of lambs, while reports on sustained effects on growth performance in later stages of lambs are scarce. This study investigated the sustained effects of early starter supplementation on the performance of Hu lambs during the pre-weaning, post-weaning, and fattening periods. The aim of this experiment was to study the sustained effects of early supplementation with a starter on the performance of lambs during the pre-weaning, post-weaning, and fattening periods. Sixty male Hu lambs (3.59 ± 0.05 kg) were randomly assigned to two (30 lambs per group) treatments. The lambs were fed milk replacer from three days of age. The early supplementation (ES) group was supplemented with a starter ration at seven days of age, the control (CON) group was supplemented at 21 days of age, and lambs in both groups were weaned from milk replacer at 28 days of age. Eight lambs from each group were randomly slaughtered at 98 days of age, and the remaining lambs were fed the same nutrient level of a fattening ration until slaughter at 200 days of age. The results showed that early supplementation with starter significantly improved average daily feed intake (ADFI) and average daily weight gain (ADG) in the pre-weaning period (7–28 days of age), and ADFI and slaughter performance (live weight before slaughter, carcass weight and dressing percentage) in the post-weaning period (29–98 days of age, p < 0.05). In addition, early supplementation with the starter had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on ADFI, ADG, and slaughter performance, but significantly decreased (p < 0.05) the feed-to-gain ratio (F/G) of lambs during the fattening period (99–200 days of age). In addition, early supplementation with starter increased the ratio of rumen and reticulum weight to total stomach weight in lambs (p < 0.05). In conclusion, early supplementation with starter can reduce feed costs and improve the performance of lambs, while the growth advantage produced by early supplementation had initially disappeared by 154 days of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: The application of maize silage has certain limitations, and the development of new forage resources is of great significance for improving resource utilization and environmental protection. Mulberry leaves are rich in nutritional value and are widely used in animal husbandry. However, excessive antinutritional factors, such as crude fiber, tannins, and phytic acid, in mulberry leaves affect the absorption and the utilization of nutrients by animals. Microbial fermentation technology can significantly reduce the contents of crude fiber, and the antinutritional factors in mulberry leaves minimize nutrient loss and improve the palatability of mulberry leaves. Therefore, this experiment found that the replacement of maize silage and soyabean meal with mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs has the potential to enhance muscle nutritional value and to improve mutton flavor without negatively affecting growth performance, serum biochemical indices, slaughter performance, or meat quality. Maize silage has a high demand for fertilizer and water. As an unconventional feed resource, mulberry silage has the potential to replace most maize silage and to alleviate the shortage of roughage in the mutton sheep industry in China. The purpose of this experiment was to study the effect of the replacement of maize silage and soyabean meal with mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs on growth performance, serum biochemical indices, slaughter performance, and meat quality. Ninety-six healthy Hu lambs were randomly divided into four groups with six replicates per group and four lambs per replicate. The amounts of 0, 20, 40, and 60% of maize silage were replaced by mulberry silage in each group (denoted as CON, L, M, and H, respectively). The results showed that replacing maize silage with mulberry silage had no significant effect on the growth performance or the slaughter performance of Hu lambs (p > 0.05). Feeding Hu lambs with mulberry silage significantly reduced serum glucose (GLU) and the blood urea nitrogen (BUN) content (p < 0.05), and it increased the content of ether extract (EE) in the longissimus dorsi muscle (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the percentage of EAA in the M and H groups was significantly lower than that in the CON and L groups (p < 0.05). In addition, in the fatty acid profile, the percentage of C16:1 in the M group was significantly increased, while the percentage of C18:0 and C20:0 were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Based on these findings, it was recommended that 20–40% of maize silage be replaced by mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this experiment was to study the sustained effects of early supplementation with a starter on the performance of lambs during the pre-weaning, post-weaning, and fattening periods. Sixty male Hu lambs (3.59 ± 0.05 kg) were randomly assigned to two (30 lambs per group) treatments. The lambs were fed milk replacer from three days of age. The early supplementation (ES) group was supplemented with a starter ration at seven days of age, the control (CON) group was supplemented at 21 days of age, and lambs in both groups were weaned from milk replacer at 28 days of age. Eight lambs from each group were randomly slaughtered at 98 days of age, and the remaining lambs were fed the same nutrient level of a fattening ration until slaughter at 200 days of age. The results showed that early supplementation with starter significantly improved average daily feed intake (ADFI) and average daily weight gain (ADG) in the pre-weaning period (7–28 days of age), and ADFI and slaughter performance (live weight before slaughter, carcass weight and dressing percentage) in the post-weaning period (29–98 days of age, p < 0.05). In addition, early supplementation with the starter had no significant effect (p > 0.05) on ADFI, ADG, and slaughter performance, but significantly decreased (p < 0.05) the feed-to-gain ratio (F/G) of lambs during the fattening period (99–200 days of age). In addition, early supplementation with starter increased the ratio of rumen and reticulum weight to total stomach weight in lambs (p < 0.05). In conclusion, early supplementation with starter can reduce feed costs and improve the performance of lambs, while the growth advantage produced by early supplementation had initially disappeared by 154 days of age.

Maize silage has a high demand for fertilizer and water. As an unconventional feed resource, mulberry silage has the potential to replace most maize silage and to alleviate the shortage of roughage in the mutton sheep industry in China. The purpose of this experiment was to study the effect of the replacement of maize silage and soyabean meal with mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs on growth performance, serum biochemical indices, slaughter performance, and meat quality. Ninety-six healthy Hu lambs were randomly divided into four groups with six replicates per group and four lambs per replicate. The amounts of 0, 20, 40, and 60% of maize silage were replaced by mulberry silage in each group (denoted as CON, L, M, and H, respectively). The results showed that replacing maize silage with mulberry silage had no significant effect on the growth performance or the slaughter performance of Hu lambs (p > 0.05). Feeding Hu lambs with mulberry silage significantly reduced serum glucose (GLU) and the blood urea nitrogen (BUN) content (p < 0.05), and it increased the content of ether extract (EE) in the longissimus dorsi muscle (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, the percentage of EAA in the M and H groups was significantly lower than that in the CON and L groups (p < 0.05). In addition, in the fatty acid profile, the percentage of C16:1 in the M group was significantly increased, while the percentage of C18:0 and C20:0 were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Based on these findings, it was recommended that 20–40% of maize silage be replaced by mulberry silage in the diet of Hu lambs.