Weaning Ages Do Not Affect the Overall Growth or Carcass Traits of Hu Sheep

Early weaning increases the production efficiency of food animals. However, the success of early weaning is limited, in part, by the rate of ruminal volume and functional development, and the establishment of a functional rumen microbiome. Decades of research have focused on the effects of weaning age on the growth of sheep, but there is limited information on how weaning age affects ruminal development, fermentation profiles, and host biochemical and immune responses. Effect of weaning ages (30 vs. 45 d) of Hu lambs on the growth performance before weaning, rumen development when weaning, as well as carcass characteristics and meat quality after weaning were determined in this study. Our goal was to find if Hu sheep can be weaned younger than 45 d. The results of this study showed that there were no significant differences between the two weaning age groups on the growth performance, rumen development, slaughter characteristics, and meat quality, and thus weaning at d 30 could be recommended to save the feeding cost