Seasonal variation in the fertility and fecundity of Bungaree and Peppin Merinos in central-western New South Wales

1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (37) ◽  
pp. 151 ◽  
Author(s):  
JR Giles ◽  
JP Drinan

The seasonal variation in fertility and fecundity of Bungaree and Peppin Merinos was compared at the Agricultural Research Station, Trangie, New South Wales. Ewes of both strains were joined to rams of both strains for 32 days on nine occasions ; each joining being separated from adjacent periods by an interval of 10 days. For six weeks after joining the ewes were run with vasectomized rams and were then slaughtered over the following six weeks. Incidence of oestrus and ovulation rate of the two strains were similar at all times. More Bungaree than Peppin ewes returned to service, particularly during the autumn, irrespective of the strain of rams to which they were joined. There was no difference between ram strains in percentage of ewes returning to service or percentage of ewes pregnant, but a significantly higher proportion of ova were lost in pregnant ewes with multiple ovulations after joining to Bungaree rams in winter and spring.


1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (37) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
BJ McGuirk

Single character selection flocks-Folds Plus (selection for high fold score) and Folds Minus (selection for low fold score) were established in 1951 from a Peppin Merino flock at Trangie Agricultural Research Station, New South Wales. For the period 1951 to 1966, 25 per cent of rams selected for the Folds Plus flock were rejected following semen examination before joining, compared to only three per cent of Folds Minus rams (P<0.05). The fertility of individual rams in the two flocks has been estimated from the lambing performance of the ewes to which they were mated in the period 1951 to 1963. Averaged over the twelve joinings, a higher proportion of ewes mated to Folds Minus rams lambed following both artificial insemination (53 v. 45 per cent) and paddock joinings (57 v. 47 per cent). The lower fertility of the Folds Plus rams was not due to a higher proportion of completely infertile rams.



1976 ◽  
Vol 16 (79) ◽  
pp. 197 ◽  
Author(s):  
OR Southwood ◽  
DG Saville ◽  
AR Gilmour

In an experiment at the Agricultural Research Station, Temora, New South Wales, Merino breeding ewes with their lambs grazed continuously from 1966 to 1970 at three stocking rates, 5, 7.5 and 10 ewes ha-1, on annual Trifolium subterraneum clover pasture topdressed every autumn with superphosphate fertilizer at nil, 94 or 188 kg ha-1. Stocking rate had an effect on ewe body weight in autumn each year and in winter and spring of the last year but it had no effect no wool production per ewe. Apart from the dry year, stocking rate had no effect on lamb performance. Superphosphate had little effect on ewe body weight and none on wool production but there were more lambs on the fertilized treatments than on the unfertilized pastures in 1967 when rainfall was low. Fertilizer encouraged barley grass dominance whereas the pasture not topdressed grew more clover and produced more burr. With no topdressing, available soil phosphate declined steadily over the five years to less than half the initial level. The results indicate that in a spring lambing, Merino ewe enterprise in the southern New South Wales wheat belt, where clover-ley farming is the general practice, annual pasture topdressing is no longer necessary after approximately 1000 kg ha-1 superphosphate has been applied to the soil and the fertilizer is continued through the cropping phase.



1982 ◽  
Vol 22 (115) ◽  
pp. 62 ◽  
Author(s):  
DP Heenan ◽  
LG Lewin

Two experiments were done at the Yanco Agricultural Research Centre, New South Wales, in 1978-79 and 1979-80 to measure the response of long grain rice, cv. Inga, to rates of nitrogen applied at two different times. The highest yields were recorded when the nitrogen was applied at panicle initiation. Increasing the rate from 100 to 200 kg N/ha at panicle initiation had no effect on grain yield. When the nitrogen was applied earlier, just before permanent water, yields were highest at 50 kg N/ha and declined at the highest rates (150 and 200 kg N/ha). This negative yield response was mainly due to a drop in the percentage of filled florets, and occurred despite an increase in panicle number.



1970 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-604 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. J. Lewis

Dispersal of the larvae of the cattle tick Boophilus microplus (Can.) was studied in connection with problems of controlling and eradicating this pest and bovine babesiosis in New South Wales. Larval ticks were recovered by pressing flannelette-covered boards on to the pasture or litter surface, or sampling with cattle. Many of these larvae were capable of completing parasitic development.Strong winds were an important factor in determining the distance travelled, as the longest journeys in pasture were for the most part in the directions in which the larvae would have been carried by recorded strong winds. Much of the dispersal is accomplished when larvae are transferred from one grass blade to another moving in the wind, but a great number of airborne larvae were captured on tanglefoot-covered traps. Movement by wind was clearly demonstrated over short pasture, up to 100 ft and possibly as far as 260 ft from the point of hatching. In long grass one larva travelled 83 ft, but in scrub and forest the greatest distance travelled was 15 ft. Many larvae that travelled long distances were capable of completing development on cattle.Tick larvae could be transported by casual hosts and then dropped in a viable condition. A horse carried larvae for 900 ft, a rat and cockerels 100 ft, a magpie in flight 600 ft, and a pigeon in flight half a mile. A horse dipped six days earlier in ethion dropped live and viable larvae after transporting them 150 ft.Security has been improved against the movement of larvae from the Cattle Tick Research Station, Wollongbar, New South Wales, to neighbouring properties, and from Queensland into New South Wales, by widening existing buffer zones to 330 ft. Inspectoral staff are now required to spray themselves and their horses before re-entering New South Wales from the buffer zone.



1981 ◽  
Vol 21 (109) ◽  
pp. 179 ◽  
Author(s):  
SJ Gray ◽  
JP Kennedy

Internal parasitism and its effects on survival, wool growth and liveweight gain of weaner sheep were studied over 3 years from 1977 to 1979 at Fowlers Gap Research Station, Broken Hill, New South Wales. During this period, annual rainfall was 33, 152 and 141 % respectively, of the annual mean of 195 mm. Worm burdens and production of sheep given anthelmintic treatment at approximately monthly intervals were compared with those in untreated sheep. Total worm counts in untreated sheep were low, ranging from 1 5 to 3750. Nematodirus spp. were the most common nematode parasites recovered. lnfections with Trichostrongylus spp, were recorded in 2 of the 3 years; T. rugatus was the only species represented when species identification was made in 1979. Infections of Haemonchus contortus were only detected in the last year. Tapeworms (Moniezia spp.) were occasionally recovered. Anthelmintic treatment reduced worm burdens to a very low level but had no significant effect on survival rate, liveweight gain, or wool production. We concluded that in the arid areas of western New South Wales, worm infection would not limit production or cause mortality in young sheep, except in unusually wet years.



1978 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Parker

An association between spring birth and anxiety neurosis in New South Wales is confirmed. Two possible explanations, that the association might reflect a seasonal variation in conceiving or in giving birth among mothers of those with significant anxiety, or that spring birth selectively disposes to anxiety, were examined. Findings suggest that both effects may be operating.



1993 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 709 ◽  
Author(s):  
KML Perera

Fifteen (or sixteen) species of ectoparasites-6 monogeneans, 4 (or 5) trematodes, 2 copepods, 1 isopod, 1 cestode, and unidentified cysts -were collected from 428 Scomber australasicus individuals caught at Eden, New South Wales, Australia, between November 1988 and June 1992. Neither common nor rare parasites of slimy mackerel showed seasonal variation in abundance or prevalence. Only the copepod Brachiella magna occurred more frequently on larger (older) fish than smaller (younger fish). Two monogeneans (Kuhnia scombri, Pseudokuhnia minor), 2 didymozoids, and unidentified cysts occurred more frequently on smaller than larger fish. The intensities of the remaining monogeneans (Kuhnia scombercolias, Kuhnia sprostonae and Grubea australis), 1 didymozoid, 1 copepod (Peniculus sp.), the isopod (Ceratothoa imbricata) and a trypanorhynch cestode were not significantly correlated with fish length.



Author(s):  
Simon Holdaway ◽  
Patricia Fanning

This book provides readers with a unique understanding of the ways in which Aboriginal people interacted with their environment in the past at one particular location in western New South Wales. It also provides a statement showing how geoarchaeology should be conducted in a wide range of locations throughout Australia. One of the key difficulties faced by all those interested in the interaction between humans and their environment in the past is the complex array of processes acting over different spatial and temporal scales. The authors take account of this complexity by integrating three key areas of study – geomorphology, geochronology and archaeology – applied at a landscape scale, with the intention of understanding the record of how Australian Aboriginal people interacted with the environment through time and across space. This analysis is based on the results of archaeological research conducted at the University of New South Wales Fowlers Gap Arid Zone Research Station between 1999 and 2002 as part of the Western New South Wales Archaeology Program. The interdisciplinary geoarchaeological program was targeted at expanding the potential offered by archaeological deposits in western New South Wales, Australia. The book contains six chapters: the first two introduce the study area, then three data analysis chapters deal in turn with the geomorphology, geochronology and archaeology of Fowlers Gap Station. A final chapter considers the results in relation to the history of Aboriginal occupation of Fowlers Gap Station, as well as the insights they provide into Aboriginal ways of life more generally. Analyses are well illustrated through the tabulation of results and the use of figures created through Geographic Information System software. Winner of the 2015 Australian Archaeology Association John Mulvaney Book Award



1962 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
JF Barrett ◽  
TF Reardon ◽  
LJ Lambourne

Two groups of Merino ewes were observed for five years to determine the variation within years and to make comparisons between years in the numbers of ewes exhibiting oestrus, in fertility, and in lamb birth weights. A group of 35 ewes (continuous), was run constantly with vasectomized rams and services were recorded. From the other (changing) group, a fresh sub-group of 15 ewes was joined with fertile rams every four to six weeks; services were recorded, together with lambing performance and lamb birth weights.Distinct breeding and anoestrous seasons similar to those shown by other workers were observed in both groups of ewes. However, the onset of oestrous activity was a month earlier in the changing ewes than in the continuous ewes.Fertility was low during spring and early summer and reached a maximum in autumn.The birth weight of the lambs appeared to be predominantly influenced by the ewes' nutrition during pregnancy.



1992 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
C.R. Pavey

The occurrence of Caperea marginata, based on strandings, along the mainland coast of Australia was investigated and compared with Tasmanian records. Details were obtained for 29 mainland and 38 Tasmanian reports to March 1989. Mainland strandings of C. marginata were spatially clumped, with 19 records from South Australia and within this state, eight from Kangaroo Island and five from Port Lincoln Bay. The most northerly records were from Nowra (New South Wales) and Fremantle (Western Australia). The majority of mainland strandings were juveniles recorded from September-January, although C. marginata has also stranded during April-June. Tasmanian records extended throughout the year and animals stranded were mostly adults. The proportion of adults to juveniles was significantly lower for the mainland (nine adult, II juvenile) than Tasmania (21 adult, three juvenile), indicating that juveniles occur more frequently at the northern edge of the species&apos; distribution. Examination of seasonal variation in length of foetal, calf and juvenile records indicated a gestation period of about 10 months and a weaning period of about 5 months. There appears to be a broad mating, calving and weaning period over some 8 months.



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