Animal performance and carcass quality of milk-fed Assaf lambs
SUMMARY – An experiment was carried out to study the effect of sex and rearing system on growth performance and carcass quality of milk-fed Assaf lambs. A total of 24 lambs, 12 males and 12 females were used. They were slaughtered at 10 kg of body weight. Half of them remained with their mothers throughout the experiment (NR: suckling lambs). The other twelve (AR: artificially reared lambs) were removed from the ewes within 24-36 hours of birth, housed in individual pens and fed ad libitum twice daily (09:00 and 19:00 h) with reconstituted cow's milk (18% of dry matter). There was no significant effect (P > 0.05) of sex on growth rate and carcass quality, except for perirenal-retroperitoneal fat (91 vs 63 g for male and female lambs, respectively). Concerning the effects of the rearing system, NR lambs showed a significant higher growth rate (307 vs 253 g/day) and consequently a lower age at slaughter (19 vs 24 days) than AR lambs (P < 0.05). NR lambs also showed higher values of fatness score (2.9 vs 2.5 points) as well as subcutaneous (7.2 vs 5.7%) and intermuscular fat (7.0 vs 5.6%) in the shoulder. Nevertheless, the rearing system did not affect (P > 0.05) either carcass weight or dressing proportion. Regardless of sex or rearing system effects, carcasses quality was in general suitable for Spanish market.
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | artículo biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Centro Internacional de Estudios Superiores sobre Agronomía Mediterránea
2004
|
| Subjects: | Assaf, Milk-fed lambs, Carcass quality, |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/8330 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|