SUMMARYMale Sudan desert sheep and goats of three age-groups, young, yearling and mature, were used to compare some of their carcass characteristics when reared under range conditions and in feedlot. Carcass traits studied were the dressing percentage, the percentage of bone in the carcass and wholesale cuts, chemical composition of meat, and muscle fibre thickness. An organoleptic test was carried out on meat from the fattened animals.The dressing percentage, percentage of edible meat, chemical fat and muscle fibre thickness were increased by fattening in the feedlot. Increases were also observed with advancing age, but the effect was more marked in fattened than unfattened animals. Goats yielded a higher carcass weight per unit live weight than sheep, the stomach content and skin weight relative to live weight being greater in the sheep than in the goats. Goats were shown to possess less chemical fat and thicker fibres than sheep. Taste panel scores revealed a highly significant (P < 0·005) treatment effect on tenderness and a significant (P = 0·5) treatment effect on juiciness in relation to age and species. Taste panel flavour scores were not associated with animal age or species.
Sixteen hundred commercial broiler chicks (Cobbs) were used to investigate the food value of blood meal in broiler production under Sudanese conditions. Seven experimental diets, containing various levels of blood meal, were fed to groups of chicks from 0 to 9 weeks of age and the performance was compared with those on a control diet containing 15 per cent meat meaL The results indicated that 6 per cent blood meal can be used in broiler diets without growth rate being adversely affected.
Sixty-four young male Sudan desert lambs were group-fed for 87 days on four diets, all containing approximately 10 % crude protein.The four diets contained 0, 1-3, 1-7 and 2*7% urea, respectively. Average daily gains were 0-15, 0*14, 0-14 and 0-13 kg; feed conversion ratios (kg of feed required to produce 1 kg live-weight gain) were 7-26, 8-14, 8-92 and 7-92; dressing percentages were 43-6, 42-1, 44-1 and 42-3. Digestibility trials with lambs fed on diets with 0 or 2-7 % urea gave higher digestibility coefficients for crude fibre and nitrogen-free extract for the urea-supplemented lambs. Crude protein digestibility and nitrogen retention values were lower for urea-supplemented lambs.
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