Effects of feed refreshing frequency on growth and carcass characteristics of Awassi lambs

Abstract

Sixty, two-month old male Awassi lambs were used in this study to investigate the effects of feed refreshing (FR) frequencies on their growth and carcass characteristics over a period of 65 days. Treatments were: Feed refreshing at 2 h (FR2), 4 h (FR4), 8 h (FR8), 12 h (FR12) and 24 h (FR24) intervals. The lambs were fed individually. At the onset of each refreshing period the lambs were offered fresh feed ad libitum. Daily feed intakes, weekly live weights and carcass characteristics were recorded. Daily feed intakes per lamb per treatment were: 1.13 kg, 1.05 kg, 1.00 kg, 0.98 kg and 0.95 kg; daily gains were 193.6 g, 180.6 g, 148.6 g, 169.3 g and 146.4 g; feed conversion ratios (kg feed/kg gain) were 6.1, 6.7, 7.2, 7.2 and 7.5; hot carcass weights were 13.0 kg, 13.1 kg, 12.1 kg, 13.3 kg and 13.1 kg; dressing percentages were 42.3%, 42.4%, 39.9%, 40.2% and 41.2%; the proportion of muscle in the carcass was 52.0%, 55.2%, 55.6%, 55.8% and 54.8%; bone ratio was 20.4%, 20.3%, 21.9%, 21.1% and 20.9%; subcutaneous fat ratio was 16.9%, 14.2%, 12.9%, 12.7% and 14.0% and intramuscular fat ratio was 8. 8%, 7.1%, 6.8%, 8.7% and 7.7% in FR2, FR4, FR8, FR12 and FR24 treatments, respectively. Results showed that frequent feed refreshing stimulated feed intake and daily gain without affecting carcass characteristics.

Feeding behavior of early weaned lambs deprived of roughage

“…When the animals feed intake with low crude fibre content, consumption was not affected, and at the same time the feed intake was controlled by the animals' energy needs (Araújo et al, 1998). During the noon and evening hours, the lambs receiving alfalfa hay gradually started to increase their feeding time, whereas the animals deprived of roughage exhibited a variation in feeding time with peaks in the noon and afternoon hours, which corresponds to the results reported by Keskin et al (2010).…”

“…However, alone the time can-not be used as an indicator of feed consumption (Pinto et al, 2010). When temperature is elevated eating decreases the lambs during the period from 12 to 16 hours when the temperature is higher than remainder of the day (Keskin et al, 2010).…”

“…Keskin et al (2010) recommend providing fresh feed at least three times a day. Feeds given frequently in small amount stimulates consumption, which according to Shabi et al (1999), leads to higher degradation of organic matter in dairy cows.…”

Effect of different feeding systems on the fattening performance, slaughter-carcass characteristics and meat quality in lambs

“…Previous studies investigating the effect of feeding frequency on fattening performance of beef (Goonewardene et al, 1995;Schutz et al, 2011;Carrara et al, 2013) and lamb (Keskin et al, 2007;Abouheif et al, 2010;Ribiero et al, 2011) have reported conflicting results. It was reported that high-concentrate rations distributed over 4 or more meals per day, rather than 1 or 2 meals per day, result in greater live weight gain, especially in young animals (CSIRO, 2007), and several studies have stated that more frequent daily intervals stabilize ruminal pH and improve digestion (Kaufmann, 1976;Yang and Varga, 1989;Shabi et al, 1999).…”

“…Moreover, differences between hand-feeding and self-feeding systems, as well as variations among them, such as frequency of meals with hand-feeding, may affect fattening performance and product quality. Furthermore, low feed refreshing rate or meal frequency usually causes feed contamination and animals tend to refuse consuming the feed (Keskin et al 2007). On the other hand, one of the most important issues affecting animal performance is digesting efficiency, which is dependent upon various factors related to feeding strategies, including optimization of diet form and content and dry matter intake (DMI).…”