Effects of Gender and Dietary Ionophores on Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics in Moghani Lambs

Subject Areas : Camel

س.  صادقی ¹ (Young Researchers and Elite Club, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran)
س.ع.  رافت ² (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran)
ج.  شجاع ³ (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran)
ح.  امانلو ⁴ (Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran)

Received: 2015-01-12 Accepted : 2015-05-31 Published : 2016-03-01

Keywords: growth performance, carcass characteristics, Moghani sheep, fat-tail, internal fat,

Abstract :

An experiment was carried to evaluate the effects of gender and two dietary ionophores on growth performance and slaughter characteristics in Moghani sheep. A total of 30 Moghani lambs (15 males and 15 females) were distributed randomly into 30 individual cages. Each gender group consisted of 5 animals and fed with a basal diet with no supplement, the same basal diet plus 25 mg/kg monensin (MON) or 25 mg/kg lasalocid (LAS). The lambs were weighed and slaughtered after a feeding period of 134 days and carcass parameters were determined. Average slaughter weight (SW) was significantly influenced by gender (48.9 kg for females vs. 51.4 kg for males) (P<0.01) but not by diet type. Neither gender nor ionophore supplementations affect average daily gain (ADG) (P>0.05). Lambs fed MON had the lowest feed intake (FI) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) which significantly differed from those of the lambs fed the other two diets. Females had a significantly higher average internal fat compared with their male counterparts (P<0.01). In regard to fat-tail weight, significant decreasing was observed in ionophore groups as compared to control group (P<0.05). Males exhibited higher growth performance with heavier offals and carcass cuts including valuable cuts than in females. Dietary MON could be used as a potent feed additive improving feed efficiency and reducing internal fat and offals proportions in Moghani lambs.

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