PREVENTIVE VETERINARY MEDICINE Preventive Veterinary Medicine 22 ( 1995 ) 115-l 26 Lesions in finished early born lambs in southwest England and their relationship with age at slaughter L.E. Green*, E. Berriatua, P.J. Cripps, K.L. Morgan zyxwvutsrqponmlk Universityof Bristol, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Langford House, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DV, UK Accepted 8 May 1994 Abstract During a 2 year prospective study of 4413 early born housed lambs, from three flocks in southwest England, 39 10 (88.6%) lambs were finished and 37 18 (95.1%) of these were observed at the abattoir. The identity, age, carcase and pluck abnormalities and dead weight, conformation and fat classification of each lamb were recorded. Up to 20% of lambs had at least one abnormality. Pneumonia was the most frequent lesion observed with 1O-l 5% of the lung tissue affected in the majority of lambs. Pleurisy, pericarditis and Cysticercus ovis infection were also observed in thoracic organs. In the carcase bruising, pleurisy, arthritis and C. ovis were the most frequent causes of rejection. Livers with haemorrhagic tracts thought to be related to parasite migration were observed. Prevalent lesions at slaughter of arthritis, pleurisy and pneumonia were associated with an increase in days to slaughter. The re.jections and reduced growth rate were estimated to have cost the farmers E600- 1500 per annum. Keywords. Sheep; Early lambing system; Age at slaughter 1. Introduction The early lambing system gained popularity in Britain in the 1980s when pro- duction of new lamb for the Easter market was very profitable. There are an un- known number of farmers rearing lambs using this system; 10% of flocks record- ing with the Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) were early lambing in 1989 (MLC, 1990). A variety of ewe breeds are used; most are either Poll Dorset * Corresponding author. 0167-5877/95/$09.50 0 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved SSDI0167-5877(94)00392-V