Biometry and carcass characteristics of lambs supplemented in tropical grass pastures during the dry season

The objective of this study was to evaluate the biometry and carcass characteristics of finished Santa Inês crossbred sheep grazed on tropical grass pastures during the dry season. The study was carried out at the Grupo de Estudos em Forragicultura (GEFOR/UFRN), in Macaíba - RN, Brazil. Four forage...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inBioscience journal Vol. 34; no. 1
Main Authors Thiago Felipe de Medeiros Trindade, Gelson dos Santos Difante, João Virgínio Emerenciano Neto, Leonardo Santana Fernandes, Itânia Maria Medeiros de Araújo, Emmanuel Lievio de Lima Véras, Marcone Geraldo Costa, Maria Gabriela da Trindade Silva, Mariana Campelo Medeiros
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Universidade Federal de Uberlândia 01.12.2017
Subjects
Brachiaria brizantha
carcass yield
commercial cuts
Panicum maximum
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The objective of this study was to evaluate the biometry and carcass characteristics of finished Santa Inês crossbred sheep grazed on tropical grass pastures during the dry season. The study was carried out at the Grupo de Estudos em Forragicultura (GEFOR/UFRN), in Macaíba - RN, Brazil. Four forage treatments were evaluated: Brachiaria brizantha cvs. Marandu e Piatã, Panicum maximum cvs. Aruana e Massai. The 2.88 ha-area used was divided in two blocks of 1.44 ha; each one was composed of four plots corresponding to each cultivar, and each plot was subdivided into six paddocks with an area of 0.06 ha. The pastures were managed under intermittent stocking with seven days of occupation and 35 days of rest, with variable stocking rate. No significant difference was observed in the biometric measurements evaluated in the animals, except for chest width in which animals kept in Marandu pastures obtained higher values than those in the Aruana cultivar. The lowest values of average daily gain, final weight and weight at slaughter values were observed in the animals kept in Aruana cultivars. Cut weights of the shoulder, the loins, short legs/shanks and ribs were higher in the animals kept in Marandu grass and lower in those kept in the Aruana grass; however, no differences were observed for the yield of the cuts and for the biometric measurements of the carcass. The evaluated pasture cultivars did not modify the finished sheep carcasses, however, the lower forage mass from Aruana grass pastures in the dry season affected animal performance and the sheep carcass composition.
ISSN:1981-3163