Table 4.

Dry matter intake and growth performance of Coopworth lambs fed for a 35-d period either a monotonous diet (perennial ryegrass only, SF) or a taxonomically diverse MF diet of equal proportions of fresh cut herbage of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), chicory (Cichorium intybus L.), and plantain (Plantago lanceolata L.)

	Treatments
Item1	SF	MF	SEM	P-value2
Initial LW, kg	31	30	0.9	0.46
DMI, kg/d	0.99	1.47	0.01	<0.01
DMI CV, %	21.3	15.8	0.8	<0.01
Daily gain, g LW/d	97	187	10	<0.01
FCE, gLWgain/kg DMI	89	121	7	<0.01

¹DMI CV, day-to-day DMI co-efficient of variation.

²t-test P-value.