Lamb survival, a challenge for the decades

Lamb survival to weaning is the major profit driver in the Australian sheep industry, and equally an important issue for animal welfare and ethical livestock production. Research aimed at improving lamb survival and reproductive efficiency remains consistently one of the highest- ranking priorities identified by industry consultation groups. The extensive body of knowledge generated by research efforts across Australia have led to comprehensive management guidelines and extension programs to support their uptake. Nevertheless, reported rates of loss in many regions remains higher than acceptable, despite lamb loss rates in general improving under improved management strategies. One of the biggest challenges is to break down this complex phenotype into measurable meaningful component traits. As for any complex phenotype, a combination of improved management and genetic selection may be most likely to lead to success but for either application, phenotypes must be less dependent on uncontrollable environmental influences than counts of losses. Dystocia has been conclusively shown to be one of the most important causes of lamb loss and development of approaches to measure incidence of dystocia will aid the development of new phenotypes to facilitate genetic and management strategies to improve lamb survival.