Twin sets of lambs were randomly allocated to one of six treatments: (1) lambs born and managed on ryegrass–clover-based pasture until conventional weaning approximately at 99 days of age (Grass–Grass_CW); (2) lambs born on ryegrass–clover-based pasture and early weaned onto a herb–clover mix at ~45 days of age (Grass–Herb_EW); (3) lambs born on ryegrass–clover-based pasture, transferred with their dam onto a herb–clover mix at ~45 days of age until conventional weaning (Grass–Herb_CW); (4) lambs born on ryegrass–clover-based pasture, transferred with their dam onto a herb–clover mix at ~15 days of age and early weaned onto a herb–clover mix at ~45 days of age (Grass–Herb_D15EW); (5) lambs born and managed on herb–clover mix until conventional weaning (Herb–Herb_CW); (6) lambs born on herb–clover mix and weaned early onto a herb–clover mix at ~45 days of age (Herb–Herb_EW). In both years, Herb–Herb_CW lambs had greater (p < 0.05) growth rates than lambs in other treatments. The liveweight gains and rumen papillae development of Herb–Herb_EW, Grass–Herb_D15EW and Grass–Herb_EW lambs did not differ (p > 0.05). The weight of the empty digestive tract components at either early weaning or conventional weaning did not differ (p > 0.05) between treatments. Exposing early-weaned lambs to the herb mix for a prolonged period, prior to early weaning, does not improve their subsequent growth.

中文翻译：

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早期断奶的羔羊预先暴露于草药-三叶草混合物中不会改善其随后的生长。

将两组羔羊随机分配给以下六种处理之一：（1）在黑麦草-三叶草为基础的牧场上出生和管理的羔羊，直到大约99日龄常规断奶（Grass-Grass _CW）；（2）羔羊在黑麦草-三叶草为主的牧场上出生，并在约45天龄时断奶到草-三叶草混合物中（格拉斯-草药_EW）；（3）在黑麦草-三叶草为基础的牧场上出生的羔羊，在约45天龄时与大坝一起转移到草木-三叶草混合物中，直到常规断奶为止（草-草药_CW）；（4）在黑麦草-三叶草牧场上出生的羔羊，在约15天龄时与_母坝一起转移到草-三叶草混合物中，在约45天龄时断奶到草-三叶草混合物中（草-草_D15EW））; （5）羔羊在草本-三叶草混合物下出生和管理，直到常规断奶（Herb-Herb _CW）；（6）羊羔在草-三叶草混合物上出生，并在〜45天龄时早期断奶到草-三叶草混合物上（草–草– _EW）。在这两年中，Herb–Herb _CW羔羊的生长率均高于其他处理的羔羊（p <0.05）。Herb-Herb _EW，Grass-Herb _D15EW和Grass-Herb _EW羔羊的_体重增加和瘤胃乳头发育无差异（p > 0.05）。早期断奶或常规断奶时空的消化道成分的重量没有差异（p> 0.05）。在早期断奶之前，将早期断奶的羔羊长时间暴露于草药混合物中并不能改善其随后的生长。