Performance, Carcass Percentage, and Production Cost for Awassi Lambs Fed High Energy Diet for Short Fattening Period

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to indicate the effect of feeding high energy diet for 45 days on male and female Awassi lambs’ performance, carcass percentage, and cost of production. A total of twenty four Awassi lambs (12 males, and 12 females) averaging 18.2±0.70 kg body weight were used. Lambs were assigned randomly to two different groups (groups A and B); each group had twelve lambs (6 males and 6 females) and fed two different diets (low energy diet and high energy diet). Feed intake, total gain, average daily gain and feed conversion ratio was calculated and body measurements (height and length) were recorded. Lambs were slaughtered at the end of experiment, to evaluate carcass percentage. Cost of production was calculated based on ingredients’ price at the time of the experiment. Final body weight, weight gain, and average daily gain were greater (p < 0.05); while feed conversion ratio was lower (p < 0.05) for lambs fed high energy diet than lambs fed low energy diet. Body length differences measured to be greater (p < 0.05) for male lambs fed high energy diet than other lambs. Fasted weight, hot carcass weight, and dressing percentage were higher (p < 0.05) for lambs fed the high energy diet. Cost of gain was lower (p < 0.05) for lambs in group B compared to lambs in group A. Therefore, the economical efficiency in this experiment was greater for lambs fed high energy diet than lambs fed the control diet during 45 days fattening period.

Effect of Supplementation of Different Levels of Spirulina Platensis Algae Powder to Two Diets with Two Different Levels of Protein on Some Carcass Characteristics of Lamb

“…The results of the statistical analysis in Table (3) also indicated that there were no significant differences in the Shrinkage percentage when using different levels of protein in the diets, as it was (2.30 and 2.44%) for the high and low levels of protein, respectively. This study agreed with the results of the study researcher [33] and did not show significant differences in the Shrinkage percentage when using different levels of protein in lamb feeding .…”

“…The dressing percentage* was (53.33 and 53.89%) for the high and low protein levels, respectively, while the dressing percentage** was (52.10 and 52.57%) for the high and low protein levels, respectively. These results agreed with what the researchers found [31] and [32] that there were no significant effects when using different levels of protein in diets, and agreed with the results of the researcher [24], The results of [33], where the dressing percentage increased when feeding on different levels of protein, did not agree with the results of the researcher [30], where the dressing percentage when using concentrated feed was based on high protein levels.…”