Effects of Substituting Soybean Meal for Sunflower Cake in the Diet on the Growth and Carcass Traits of Crossbred Boer Goat Kids

The present study was conducted to determine the best level of substitution of soybean meal by sunflower cake in diets for kids through the evaluation of quantitative carcass traits. Thirty-two Boer kids X 1/2 NDB (no defined breed), males, non-castrated, with 4 months of age and initial body weight of $15{\pm}3.2$ kg, were randomly assigned to individual pens. The treatments contained four substitution levels of soybean meal by sunflower cake (0, 33, 66 and 100% DM). At the end of the experimental period, the animals were slaughtered. There was no influence of the treatments on any of the mean values of the evaluated measures (p>0.05): 21.78 kg (body weight at slaughter), 8.65 kg (hot carcass weight), 8.59 kg (cold carcass weight), 40.27% (hot carcass yield), 39.20% (cold carcass yield), 7.73 $cm^2$ (rib eye area), 46.74 cm (carcass outer length), 45.68 cm (carcass internal length), 36.92 cm (leg length), 26.04 cm (leg perimeter), 48.66 cm (hind perimeter), 58.62 cm (thoracic perimeter), 0.20 (carcass compactness index), 68.48% (total muscle of the leg), 2.79% (total leg fat), 55.19% (subcutaneous leg fat), 28.82% (total bone), 81.66 g (femur weight), 14.88 cm (femur length), 0.38 (leg muscularity index), 2.53 (muscle:bone ratio) and 33.42 (muscle:fat ratio). The substitution of soybean meal by sunflower cake may be recommended up to a level of 100% without alterations to quantitative carcass traits.