Effect of Including Alfalfa Hays That Were Harvested in the Morning or Evening in Diets of Newly Received Sheep1

In previous experiments, ruminants preferred evening-harvested (PM-alfalfa) over morning-harvested (AM-alfalfa) harvested alfalfa hay when given a choice. Therefore, could strategic use of PM-alfalfa fed as a pellet or included as a component of receiving diets stimulate naive sheep to increase DMI early in the receiving period? Experiments were conducted to 1) determine preferences of naive sheep for pellets prepared from PM- and AM-alfalfa, 2) measure performance of wether lambs fed pellets prepared from PM- and AM-alfalfa, and 3) measure performance and productivity of ewe lambs fed receiving diets formulated with PM- and AM-alfalfa. Pelleting PM-alfalfa resulted in pellets having similar (P > 0.05) palatability to naive sheep as pellets prepared from AM-alfalfa. Inclusion of PM-alfalfa in receiving diets fed to ewe lambs resulted in greater consumption of alfalfa stem fractions (P < 0.01). However, this effect did not result in greater DMI or gain over a 35-d feeding period (P > 0.76). Based on data from this study, strategic dietary use of pellets or hay prepared from evening-harvested alfalfa did not stimulate naive sheep to increase DMI. Lack of commonality between experiments reported herein and other research may be because 1) sheep cannot discriminate as well as other livestock between AM- and PM-alfalfa, or 2) pelleting or including in mixed diets masks sheep-preferred characteristics of PM-alfalfa. Based on the alfalfa hay used in these experiments, it was not advantageous to use pellets or hay prepared from evening-harvested alfalfa for the specific purpose of encouraging naive sheep to increase DMI.