Exogenous human growth hormone-releasing factor and ovine somatotropin improve growth performance and composition of gain in lambs.

The objectives of this study were 1) to compare intermittent subcutaneous administration of human growth hormone-releasing factor (hGRF) at two doses with a similar regimen of ovine somatotropin (oST) for effects on growth and composition of gain in growing lambs and 2) to determine whether increasing the dietary amino acid availability enhances response to oST or hGRF. Eighty crossbred ewe and wether lambs (25.5 kg live weight) were assigned randomly in pairs to receive four daily injections of excipient, 40 micrograms oST/kg BW, 5 micrograms hGRF/kg BW or 10 micrograms hGRF/kg BW for 42 (n = 80) or 56 (n = 40) d. Doses were adjusted weekly for BW. Mean plasma oST concentrations increased from 2.03 ng/ml prior to treatment to 20.64, 4.80 and 5.45 ng/ml with oST, 5 and 10 micrograms/kg hGRF doses, respectively. Lambs did not become refractory to hGRF. Cumulative gain increased approximately 18% with 7 wk of treatment with oST and the low dose of hGRF (both P less than .01), and feed efficiency improved 21% with oST and 18% with both doses of hGRF (both P less than .05). Carcass lipid accretion rate decreased 22% to 30% (P less than .001), and carcass protein accretion rate increased 30% to 36% (P less than .001) with hGRF and oST treatment, respectively. Addition of fishmeal to the diet at 4% to replace an equal amount of soy protein improved gain 8.5%; it improved efficiency 14.2% (P less than .05) across all treatments, and it significantly enhanced the effects of oST on feed efficiency (interaction P less than .12) and hind leg muscle weights.