Weight gain and carcass yield in sheep supplemented with multinutrient blocks in transition period dry-rainy season

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate weight gain and cold carcass yield in sheep supplemented with multinutrient blocks (MNB) fattening phase in the transition period between the dry season and the rainy season. A completely randomized design, in which 16 castrated Colombian hair sheep creoles, managed in rotational grazing (RG) and randomly distributed in four treatments were used as follows: T0: RG; T1: RG + MNB soy based; T2: RG + MNB cotton cake based; and T3: RG + MNB urea based. An analysis of variance was used to determine whether there was a difference between average daily gain and cold carcass yield. For daily gain no significant difference (p>0.05) between treatments was found, but if difference (p≤0.05) was found for cold carcass yield. To sell live animals is not necessary supplementation with multinutrient blocks in the transition period between the rainy and dry season.