Thirty-two crossbredSanta Inês hair sheep lambs (16 males and 16 females) bred with theirfemale progenitors on pasture of Brachiaria humidicola grass, supplementedin creep-feeding during the night, were allotted to a completely randomizeddesign, in a factorial arrangement 4 x 2, four weaning ages (56, 70, 84 and98 days) and sex to determine the best weaning age. At weaning, the lambs wereconfined in individual pens until 126 days old, when were daily fed Tifton 85hay, water and mineral salt ad libitum and concentrate diet in the proportionof 2% body weight. There was a significant effect of weaning age vs sex interactionon DWC and DWG, where the males weaned at 84 days old were heavier than thefemales. No significant interaction of weaning age vs sex on DWBW and CFC wasdetected. Quadratic effects of weaning age on DWBW, DWG and CFC were noticed.No significant effect of sex on any of the studied parameters was detected.Seventy-six days weaned lambs maximized DWBW and DWG, while the most effectiveCFC was observed in seventy-two days weaned animals.
