LAMB FEEDING STRATEGIES DURING THE PRE-WEANING PERIOD IN INTENSIVE MEAT PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

The modern consumer of sheep meat requires uninterrupted market supply with qualitatively standardized meat, without excess fat and with high tenderness, which has encouraged producers to slaughter young sheep. A lamb’s diet during the pre-weaning phase was discussed in this review because it is of great importance for achieving success in a meat production system, given the high speed of lambs’ growth during their first weeks of life. Supplying palatable concentrate in creep-feeders from the first days of life promotes pre-stomach development and adapts the animal to a solid diet consumption; important processes for enhancing animal performance, since nutritional requirements, especially for energy, are high during this period and can only be met by milk for a short time. An early weaning technique can be adopted from 35 days old, when adequate nutritional support is provided. Unweaned lamb slaughtering combined with creep feeding and controlled feeding have superior effects to early abrupt weaning, probably by avoiding the adverse effects generated by post-weaning stress. The use of a milk replacer is seldom reported due to the difficulty in finding specific products for sheep and its high cost. Controlled suckling does not affect the performance of lambs. Further studies investigating lamb feeding strategies need to be developed during the pre-weaning period.