Body development, carcass, and meat quality of confined lambs fed increasing levels of whole rice meal

Abstract

The objective of this trial was to evaluate the effect of whole rice meal (WRM) inclusion in the concentrate upon body development, carcass traits, and meat quality of lambs. Twenty-four castrated lambs with an average initial body weight of 17.90 ± 2.72 kg were randomly blocked according to two genetic groups (Corriedale and Texel by Corriedale crossbreds). Three isocaloric (11.3 MJ/kg of metabolizable energy) and isonitrogenous (17 % crude protein) diets were offered to the animals for 74 days. Diets consisted of 40 % forage and 60 % concentrate diet, on a dry matter basis, with 0, 15, or 30 % of WRM inclusion into the concentrate. Body growth (after slaughter), carcass, and meat traits were evaluated on each animal. Results obtained indicated that genotype did not affect body growth, carcass, and meat traits except for yellowness. No significant interaction between diet and genotype were detected. Inclusion of up to 30 % WRM did not significantly (P > 0.05) affect body growth, carcass, and meat traits, except for meat color. Meat luminosity progressively increased (36.32 + 0.055X) while redness (15.13 − 0.03X) decreased with the inclusion of WRM in the diet, but still remained within acceptable values. The study indicates that WRM may be included up to 30 % in the concentrate replacing corn without adverse effects upon body development, carcass traits, and meat quality of lambs.

Concentrate supplementation during pregnancy and lactation of ewes affects the growth rate of lambs from a variety of crosses

“…The use of creep feeding promoted a greater weight gain during the growth period, increasing the average daily gain (ADG) of the lambs by 23 g/100 g. This weight gain can justify the use of this technology to provide the largest batch earliness, improved feed efficiency and weight gain, and ease of adaptation to the feedlot (Biagiotti et al, 2013;Souza et al, 2013;Rech et al, 2014).…”