Nutritional manipulation of sex ratio

This project explored the ability to influence the sex ratio of lambs by manipulating maternal nutrition around the time of conception. This is based on research indicating a sheep’s diet may influence the gender of offspring. This is valuable for instance following a drought when its important to rebuild ewe numbers. Initial results found that feeding a diet high in omega-3 (such as pasture and silage) to ewes at joining was associated with a higher proportion of male lambs, while a diet high in omega 6 (based on oat grain) produced a higher proportion of female lambs.