Effect of weaning method on lamb behaviour and weight gain

•Early weaned lambs had greater bleat frequencies.•Animals weaned in 2 stage had lower agitation scores compared to traditionally weaned animals.•2 stages weaning method caused to less distressed than traditional weaning method of abrupt separation.

This study aimed to evaluate effects of age at weaning in combination with different weaning procedures on lamb behaviour and performance. Thirty-two single-born male Balouchi lambs were weaned at 6 or 12 week of age. Within each age group (n = 16), the lambs were weaned using either a two-stage or a traditional one-stage method. In traditional one-stage weaning, lambs were abruptly separated from ewes, whereas in two-stage weaning, lambs were first prevented from nursing their dam for 1 week (stage 1) before their separation (stage 2). Lamb weights and behaviour were recorded before and after separation. Lambs weaned at week 6 were heavier and had greater (P < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) until week 16 compared to lambs weaned at week 12. However, neither the traditional nor the two-stage weaning affected body weight and ADG at week 16. Bleat frequencies were greater in traditional method at age of 6 week compared to traditional method at an age of 12 week, two-stage method at an age of 6 week or 12 week (P < 0.05). Lambs weaned using the two-stage method had lower (P < 0.05) agitation scores compared to traditionally weaned animals. We concluded that the two-stage weaning resulted in less distress than the traditional one-stage weaning, however ADG up to 16 week of age was not affected by weaning method.