Investigation of the effects alfalfa removal in the diet on carcass characteristics in fattening Afshar male lambs

Subject Areas : Journal of Food Safety and Processing

Zahra Mahboubi ¹ , Naser Karimi ² , Abas Jahanbakhshi ³

1 - Ph.D student .,2 Assistant Prof., Dept. of Animal and Poultry Nutrition, Agriculture Faculty, Islamic Azad University Varamin- Pishva
2 - Assistant Prof., Dept. of Animal Sciences, Genetics and Breeding, Agriculture Faculty, Islamic Azad University Varamin- Pishva
3 - Assistant Prof., Dept. of Animal Sciences, Genetics and Breeding, Agriculture Faculty, Islamic Azad University Varamin- Pishva

Received: 2021-09-13 Accepted : 2021-12-01 Published : 2022-02-20

Keywords: alfalfa, growth performance, carcass characteristics, Afshari lamb,

Abstract :

In order to Investigation of the effects alfalfa removal in the diet on carcass characteristics in fattening Afshar male lambs, an experiment was conducted using 36 Afshar male lambs with a mean live weight of 32.53 ± 1.9 kg and a mean age of 93 ± 6.63 days for 90 days based on a factorial experiment based on a completely randomized 2×2 design. Experimental treatments include treatment 1) fattening diet containing 80% concentrate and 20% forage (10% wheat straw and 10% alfalfa), treatment 2) fattening diet containing 80% concentrate and 20% forage (20% wheat straw and 0% alfalfa), treatment 3) fattening diet contained 90% concentrate and 10% forage (5% wheat straw and 5% alfalfa) and treatment 4) fattening diet contained 90% concentrate and 10% forage (10% wheat straw and 0% alfalfa). The experimental rations were set based on the NRC food standard tables (2007) and the food ingredients of the rations and their nutritional values ​​were similar. Dry matter consumption and daily weight gain for treatment four were significantly higher than other treatments. Treatment four had a numerically lower conversion ratio (6.1) compared to the other three treatments. The mean final weight of lambs, hot and cold carcass weights showed significant differences between experimental treatments. According to the results, the removal of alfalfa did not cause any production problems in these areas. Increasing the concentrate and eliminating alfalfa in the diet increases feed intake and daily weight gain and overall higher final weight in fattening periods and also improves feed conversion ratio, growth performance and carcass percentage.