The influence of empty body weight and mature weight of the genotype on energy density of empty body gain in growing lambs.

Abstract

From data reported by authors who had serially determined the chemical composition of the empty body of growing lambs of a wide range of genotypes, the energy density of empty body gains (E/G) at intervals from 20 to 50 kg empty body weight (EBW) were estimated. Energy density of empty body gain was related to the EBW of these lambs and to an approximation of the mature weight for the genotype (MW) obtained from a separate data set. The addition of MW to the function relating E/G to EBW increased the r2 from .793 to .940 and reduced the residual standard deviation from .550 to .300 Mcal/kg. Combining EBW and MW as predictors of E/G provided the following function: E/G = 5.718 + .093 (EBW) - .036 (MW). Energy density of empty body gain was approximately constant across all genotypes when comparisons were made at a constant EBW/MW. Thus, both EBW and mature weight of the genotype are closely related to E/G and should be considered important for accurately predicting net energy of gain requirements for growing lambs.