Lamb early weaning. 7: The influence of crude fiber level on mutton performances

• Published in: Annali della Facolta' di Agraria, Bari (Italy) Vol. 32
• Main Authors: Ciruzzi, B, Casamassima, D, Vonghia, G, Marsico, G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Italian
• Published: 1981
• ISSN: 0365-0502

The research was carried out on 40 crossed 'Dorset Down x Altamurana' lambs with the aim of finding out the optimal level of crude fiber for the preparation of weaning and fattening feeds. The subjects used, coming from a natural suckling, were subjected to a sudden weaning at the age of 4 weeks, and divided into 5 groups of 8 lambs each, 4 males and 4 females. They received from the 5th to the 7th week and from 8th to the 15th week, respectively, weaning and fattening diets containing crude fiber variable with the weaning age and the experimental group. The weight gains in the weaning fase as well as in the fatteningfase, were satisfactory also in the lambs given a higher quantity of crude fiber. The conversion index did not show any noticeable differences between the groups, while the slaughtering data, on the average satisfactory, was better in the subjects that received feed slightly more fibrous than the control.