• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1105-1115
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• 2015

Fifty 3-month-old male Tan lambs (similar in body weight) were divided into 5 groups to investigate the effects of different restricted pasture grazing times and indoor supplementation on the productive performances and fatty acid composition of the intramuscular fat in growing lambs. The lambs grazed for different periods of time (12 h/d, 8 h/d, 4 h/d, 2 h/d, and 0 h) and received various amounts of supplementary feedings during the 120-day trial. Pasture dry matter intake (DMI), total DMI, average daily gains and the live body weights of the lambs were measured during the experiment. The animals were slaughtered at the end of the study, their carcass traits were measured, and their longissimus dorsi muscles were sampled to analyze the intramuscular fat (IMF) content and fatty acid profiles. The results indicated that the different durations of grazing and supplementary feedings affected the animal performances and the composition of fatty acids. Grazing for 8 h/d or 2 h/d with the corresponding supplementary concentrate resulted in lambs with higher body weights, carcass weights and IMF contents. Lambs with longer grazing times and less concentrate accumulated more healthy fatty acids such as conjugated linoleic acid and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid and had higher n-3/n-6 ratios. Overall, a grazing allowance of 8 h/d and the corresponding concentrate was recommended to maintain a high quantity and quality of lamb meat.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.85-89
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• 1990

Sixteen Harnai lambs were used in a completely randomized design to study the nutritive value of fourwing saltbush as a winter maintenance browse in comparison to native range grazing with or without protein and energy supplementation at Tomagh Range Livestock Research Station, in Loralai District, Balochistan. The animals were divided into four groups of four lambs each. These four groups were assigned four treatments at random: fourwing saltbush grazing alone, range grazing plus lucerne hay (100 g/head/day), range grazing plus barley grain (100 g/head/day) and range grazing alone for ten weeks. The results indicate that the two range grazing plus supplementation treatments produced weight gains which were not significantly different from each other (p < 0.05). Both of these treatments yielded significantly higher weight gains (p < 0.05) than did range grazing alone except for the last week of the study. Fourwing saltbush grazing provided cumulative weight gains at 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 weeks which were not significantly different from the range grazing plus lucerne hay treatment and gained an average of 6 percent in body weight over the 10 week period of study. The carrying capacity for sheep of a mature stand of fourwing saltbush was approximately 20 Sheep-kg-days (SKD) of grazing per cubic meter of foliage. Results of this study suggest that under fourwing saltbush grazing alone, lambs do not only maintain their body weights but can also gain weight in winter.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.139-143
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• 1995

Two hundred eighty weaned Targhee lambs were grazed on annual grass-subclover pastures for 84 d under continuous and rotational defoliation grazing system. At the end of the grazing season, twenty lambs weighing 44 kg were slaughtered directly off the pasture, whereas two groups of 20 lambs each were fed either a alfalfa pellet or a 50% alfalfa/50 concentrate pellet for additional 6 wk until they reached an average live weight of 50 kg. Carcass traits and loin chop palatability were compared. Lambs slaughtered directly off the pasture were lighter than desirable market weight and some lambs had less than adequate fat cover and approximately half of them were graded U.S. Good in quality. Overall conformation and leg muscling was inferior and loin chops were less tender, less juicy and less flavorful. The lambs on alfalfa pellets for 6 wk appeared to be ideal in terms of carcass quality (all Choice except one), fat cover and yield grade. They had better taste panel scores in all palatability traits than off-the-pasture lambs, and most loin chops were acceptable. The lambs on a 50% concentrate diet for 6 wk had a higher conformation score and a greater muscling in the legs. Loin chops had more marbling and better palatability than other groups. However, some lambs had an excessive fat cover and lower yield of retail cuts. It was concluded that additional feeding for 6 wk on alfalfa pellets until the live weight reached 50 kg(for Targhee lambs) was the best way of finishing lambs at the end of grazing season in the California rangeland.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.9
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• pp.1314-1326
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• 2023

Sheep and goats can efficiently convert low quality forage into high-quality meat which contains specific nutrients and quality traits. Carcass traits and quality attributes of sheep and goat meat depend upon several factors and one of most effective strategies amongst these is feeding regimens. In this review, the major aspects of feeding regimens affecting growth rate, carcass traits and quality attributes of sheep and goat meat are thoroughly discussed, with a particular focus on physical-chemical composition, flavor profile, and fatty acid (FA) profile. Grazing lambs and kids receiving concentrate or under stall-feeding systems had greater average daily gain and carcass yield compared with animals reared on pasture only. However, growth rate was higher in lambs/kids grazing on pastures of improved quality. Moreover, the meat of grazing lambs receiving concentrate had more intense flavor, intramuscular fat (IMF) content, and unhealthy FA composition, but comparable color, tenderness, juiciness, and protein content compared to that of lambs grazed on grass only. In contrast, meat of concentrate-fed lambs had more intense color, greater tenderness and juiciness, IMF and protein contents, and lower flavor linked to meat. Additionally, the meat of kids grazed on concentrate supplementation had higher color coordinates, tenderness, IMF content and unhealthy FA composition, whereas juiciness and flavor protein content were similar. In contrast, kids with concentrate supplementation had superior color coordinates, juiciness, IMF content and unhealthy FA composition, but lower tenderness and flavor intensity compared to pasture-grazed kids. Thus, indoor-finished or supplemented grazing sheep/goats had higher growth rate and carcass quality, higher IMF content and unhealthy FA composition compared to animals grazed on grass only. Finally, supplementation with concentrate increased flavor intensity in lamb meat, and improved color and tenderness in kid meat, whereas indoor-fed sheep/goats had improved color and juiciness as well as reduced flavor compared to pasture-grazed animals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.726-732
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• 2014

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of maintenance system as well as the effect of Se, Zn, and vitamin E supplementation of ram-lambs on the slaughter value and concentration of mineral elements in the loin muscle of lambs. The experiment was conducted on 72 Polish Merino ram-lambs divided into three groups: group C, indoor with no supplement, 19 lambs; S, indoor with supplement, 23 lambs; G, outdoor with no supplement, 30 lambs. From birth all the lambs were maintained indoor with their dams and then weaned at the age of 8 weeks. The rams from group C and S were placed in individual straw-bedded pens and fattened individually with concentrate mixture offered ad libitum until the age of 16 weeks. The lambs from group G were grazed every day from May to July (2 months). During the fattening period each lamb from the supplemented group S was administered per os 1 mL 0.1% $Na_2SeO_4$ (Se, 0.42 mg), 3 mL 10% $ZnSO_4$ (Zn, 68 mg), and 1 mL premix protect vitamin E (0.1 g ${\alpha}$-tocopherol, 5 mg lysine, 5 mg methionine) daily. A comparison of half carcasses across the groups has shown no difference between the control group and the one with supplements, while the weight of half carcasses in the grazing group was smaller in comparison with groups C and S (p<0.001). The meat content in the pelvic limb showed no differences across all groups under study. The pelvic limb of grazing lambs contained less fat compared to the control and supplemented groups (p<0.001). The concentrations of Se and Zn in the blood plasma of ram-lambs from the supplemented group were significantly higher than for the control and grazing lambs. Inorganic Se and Zn supplementation with vitamin E to the diet of lambs increased Se and Zn levels in loin muscle (p<0.001) to $0.46{\mu}g/g$ and $32.9{\mu}g/g$ in fresh tissue, respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.219-223
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• 1990

Sixtyfour Baluchi lambs about 5 months of age were divided into four groups with 16 lambs each. All the animals were grazed together. Group No.1 (G-1) was kept as control i.e. on grazing only; while group No. 2 (G-2) was offered barley grain @ 200 g/head/day as supplement to grazing; Group No. 3 (G-3) was offered ad-lib urea-molasses block (UMB) with 6% cement and group No.4 (G-4) was fed ad-lib IMB having 8% cement. These UMB were fed as supplement to grazing. Experiment lasted for 105 days (July to October) in arid zone of Baluchistan. Daily per head consumption of block No.1 was found to be 92.71 g; while that of block No.2 was observed to be 90.77 g. Growth rate (g/head/day) was found to be 10, 50, 33 and 15 in G-1, G-2, G-3 and G-4 respectively. Expenditure/kg bodyweight gain was found to be rupees 12.00, 3.64 and 7.74 for G-2, G-3 and G-4 respectively.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.500-508
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• 2011

Forty-four Gansu Alpine Fine-wool lambs were used to study changes in the activities of three gastric and five pancreatic enzymes under grazing conditions between 0 and 56 days of age. The lambs were slaughtered on days 0, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 42 and 56, the abomasal contents, mucosa and pancreas were immediately removed and placed into liquid nitrogen and enzyme activities were determined. Gastric enzyme (chymosin, pepsin and pregastrc esterase) activities were relatively high at birth, especially chymosin, but decreased quickly between day 0 and 21. The activity of pepsin changed insignificantly with increasing age. There was no significant change in the pancreatic enzyme activities (trypsin, chymotrypsin, ${\alpha}$-amylase, lipase and lactase). The activity of trypsin was relatively higher than that of the other pancreatic enzymes, and lactase activity was low. These ontogenic patterns might be under the control of many gut regulatory peptides, the plasma concentrations of which changed simultaneously. Some gastric and pancreatic enzymes were correlated with plasma concentrations of these gut regulatory peptides.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.1655-1665
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• 2023

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of three feeding systems, i.e., indoor feeding (CON), indoor feeding with 4-h daily access to grazing artificial pasture (ITGP), and indoor feeding with 8-h daily access to grazing artificial pasture (IEGP), on the plasma antioxidant and immunological capacity, slaughter characteristics, meat quality and economic efficiency of Huang-huai lambs. Methods: Thirty-three healthy Huang-huai rams with similar body weight (approximately 5 mo of age, 28.96±1.01 kg) were assigned equally to three experimental groups. When finished fattening, six lambs from each group were collect blood samples for plasma analyses and then slaughtered to determine slaughter characteristics and obtain biceps brachii muscle for further analysis of meat quality and fatty acid profile. Results: Compared to CON group, animals submitted to ITGP and IEGP groups resulted in greater contents of serum glutathione peroxidase, immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG, and IgM), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), n-6 PUFA, and PUFA/saturated fatty acid (FA) ratio and lower palmitic /oleic acid ratio (p<0.05). Moreover, animals in ITGP group exhibited a higher (p<0.05) loin eye area, content of meat crude protein (CP), and eicosetrienoic acid compared to CON group, while slaughter performance was superior (p<0.05) to that of the IEGP group. The economic efficiency of ITGP group was 70.12% higher than that of CON group, while the IEGP group exhibited a decrease of 92.54% in economic efficiency compared to the CON group. Conclusion: Restricted grazing time combined with indoor feeding was more effective in conferring superior body health, carcass traits and economic efficiency in Huang-huai lambs, as well as higher CP content and healthier FA composition in the resulting meat.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.1108-1117
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• 2003

In Guadeloupe small ruminants (SR) are reared for meat production under pasture conditions. Intensive rotational grazing systems (irrigated, fertilised and high stocked) allow reasonable levels of production but generate high post-grazing residues. Experiments were designed to control them. A system in which residuals were mown (RM) was tested in comparison to the control system (Residuals Remained, RR). The same design was carried out for two years with Creole goat (G) and Martinik sheep (S). An accelerated reproductive rate (3 parturitions over 2 years) was carried out. Systems were compared at three parturition seasons per year(dry, intermediate and rainy seasons). Each group was composed of 20 goats ($36.0{\pm}2.5kg$) or 20 ewes ($46.8{\pm}2.4kg$). The female body traits did not vary according to pasture management and seasons. The stocking rate averaged 1,400 kg LW/ha. The mean fertility rate for does varied significantly (p<0.05) within the kidding season, from $80.4{\pm}0.5%$ to $93.7{\pm}2.9%$ while the mean litter size was $2.30{\pm}0.07$ total kids born. No effect of pasture system was observed. Corresponding values for ewes were $83.2{\pm}12.8%$ vs. $75.6{\pm}12.5%$ (p<0.05) and $2.43{\pm}0.24$ vs. $2.03{\pm}0.29$ (p<0.01) total lambs born for SRM and SRR ewes, respectively. A seasonal effect was observed upon ewe performances. The preweaning mortality of kids and lambs averaged 16.3% and 14.4%, respectively. It was 7 and 9 percentage points more (p<0.01) for RR than for RM kids and lambs, respectively. For both species, weaning took place at an average age of $81.4{\pm}3.6days$. In Creole kids, live weight at birth and at weaning were $1.9{\pm}0.2kg$ and $8.9{\pm}0.8kg$, respectively. In the Martinik sheep, the traits averaged $2.9{\pm}0.2kg$ and $18.9{\pm}0.9kg$. For both traits in both species, significant (p<0.05) group${\times}$season interactions were recorded. The consequences of elimination of post-grazing residues varied according to the SR species, the environmental conditions and the animal physiological status. The forage characteristics were not limiting factors since forage availability in the RM systems (2,300 and 2,600 kg DM/ha, respectively) and chemical composition were at satisfactory levels (CP content averaged 12 and 10%). It is recommended to develop new grazing system which would allow the use of post-grazing residues instead of mowing the refusals.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.127-132
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• 1996

Effects on feed intake, liveweight gain and economic benefits of supplementing lambs with urea molasses blocks, were studied. Forty eight crossbred lambs were divided into 6 groups and assigned randomly to grazing on native pasture (CONT) or along with supplements of Commercial ration (COM) and urea molasses blocks (UMBs) containing two levels of cement and calcium oxide as a binding agent. Analysis of variance revealed highly significant (p<0.01) differences in dry matter (DMI, g/day), crude protein (CPI, g/day) and metabolizable energy (MEI, MJ/day) intakes. Differences in liveweight gain (LWG, g/day), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and net economic benefit of supplementation were also highly variable. The intake of DM, CP and ME varied from 974 to 1002, 66-70 and 7.6-8.4 in lambs supplemented with UMBs, significantly (p<0.01) greater than 848, 52.5 and 5.6 in lambs supplemented with COM or FCR and net economic benefits (54.3; 57.8; 17.1 and 1.96; 2.4) in lambs supplemented with COM and UMB-2, were CONT or supplemented with UMB-1, UMB-3 and UMB-4 respectively. Factors responsible for differences in feed intake, liveweight gain and economic benefits, are discussed.