Effect of Feeding Frequency and Adding Moringa Seeds on the Productive Performance and some Carcass Traits of Awassi Lambs

Abstract

The study included 24 Awassi lambs aged of (3-4) months, distributed randomly into four treatments homogeneous by weight, each treatment includes 6 lambs. The first treatment was fed twice a day without supplementation, second treatment was fed twice a day with addition 5 g of Moringa seeds/head/day, third treatment they were fed three times a day without supplementation, and the fourth treatment was fed three times a day with addition 5 gm of Moringa seeds/head/day. The results of the study showed a significant (p≤0.05) superiority in body weight at the second week in favor of the lambs that were fed twice daily, while the lambs that were fed three times had a significant (p≤0.05) superiority in final weight and total weight gain, and the fourth treatment was significantly superior (p≤0.05) in final weight and total weight gain compared to the second and third treatments. Lambs fed twice daily outperformed highly significant (p≤0.01) in the carcass width at the shoulders. Also, the lambs that were fed twice daily without addition were significantly (p≤0.01) superior in this trait to their counterparts that were fed three times. There was a significant (p≤0.05) superiority in the weight of fat-tail for the treatment with Moringa added compared to the treatment without it. Significant differences (p≤0.05) were observed in the dressing percentage in favor of lambs in the third and fourth treatments. The treatment to which Moringa was added was significantly (p≤0.01) superior in albumin concentration in the blood over the treatment without addition, and the albumin concentration was significantly (p≤0.05) higher in the second treatment compared to the rest of the other treatments. A highly significant (p≤0.01) was observed in the concentration of triglycerides in the blood of lambs fed three times daily.