Impact of licorice and rosemary powder in the diet on several carcass characteristics of local goats

Abstract

A total of 12 male goats were used at the age of four months; the animals were placed in adjacent and separated enclosures. Treatments as follows: T1 (control), T2 adding 5 g/kg of rosemary leaves to powder and T3 adding 5 g/kg of licorice root powder, T4 (the mixture treatment), adding 5 g/kg of rosemary goes to powder and 5 g of licorice root powder. The results showed that the T3 and T4 treatments were significantly superior in live weight, empty body weight, hot and cold carcass weight and the dressing ratio calculated based on empty weight compared to the control treatment. Also, T4 was significantly superior compared to T1 on the total percentages of major cuts. At the same time, there was a significant decrease in the total rates of secondary cuts in treatments T2, T3 and T4 compared to the control treatment T1. The treatments T2, T3 and T4 were significantly superior to the control treatment T1 in the shoulder ratio, while the neck ratio decreased significantly in T3 and T4 compared to the control treatment T1. The control treatment was significantly superior in the ulna segmental ratio compared to T4. Keywords: rosemary, licorice, carcass, local goats.