Lamb sex influenced by maternal nutrition

摘要

The potential for producers to skew the offspring sex ratio of their livestock is an exciting developmentIn the sheep industry, prime lamb producers using terminal sires may prefer more male offspring with faster growth rates and muscle accumulation, whereas those trying to breed replacements of superior genetics may want more female lambs.After receiving a grant from the EH Graham Centre (a Charles Sturt University and NSW DPI alliance) and a scholarship from the Australian Post Graduate Award scheme and the Future Farm Industries CRC, Catherine Gulliver began looking at existing studieson the factors most affecting sex-ratio outcomes in mammals.