Effects of alternative feedstuffs on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of growing Awassi lambs

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition (g/kg DM) of the alternative feedstuffs used in treatment diets.

Item^a	Dry bread	Carob pods	Olive cake	Sesame meal
DM, g/kg as fed	880.0	854.0	812.0	841.0
OM	980.0	960.0	950.0	930.0
CP	146.0	77.0	72.0	457.0
NDF	24.0	213.0	533.0	158.0
ADF	6.0	150.0	345.0	85.0
Ether extract	16.0	35.0	170.0	117.0
ME, MJ/kg^a	13.8	12.0	4.2	12.3

DM: dry matter; OM: organic matter; CP: crude protein; NDF: neutral detergent fibre; ADF: acid detergent fibre; ME: metabolisable energy. ^aBased on tabular values (NRC 2007), Obeidat et al. (2009) for sesame meal, and Awawdeh and Obeidat (2013) for olive cake.

Table 2. Ingredient and chemical composition of dietary treatments containing different levels of alternative feedstuffs fed to growing male Awassi lambs.

	Dietary Treatments^a
	0AF	25AF	50AF
Ingredient, g/kg DM
Barley	513.00	408.00	303.00
Soybean meal	150.00	75.00	0.00
Wheat bran	90.00	90.00	90.00
Wheat straw	220.00	150.00	80.00
Carob	0.00	50.00	100.00
Sesame meal	0.00	80.00	160.00
Olive Cake	0.00	70.00	140.00
Dry bread	0.00	50.00	100.00
Na bicarbonate	5.00	5.00	5.00
Salt	10.00	10.00	10.00
Limestone	10.00	10.00	10.00
Vitamin/minerals premix^b	1.00	1.00	1.00
Toxin binder	1.00	1.00	1.00
Chemical composition, g/kg of DM
DM, g/kg as fed	914.00	897.00	879.00
OM	904.00	909.00	910.00
CP	160.00	160.00	159.00
NDF	308.00	288.00	264.00
ADF	127.00	128.00	135.00
Ether extract	13.00	34.00	56.00
ME, MJ/kg DM^c	9.75	9.75	9.79
Tannins^d	–	5.20	10.50
Cost, US$/ton as fed^e	309.00	230.00	156.00

DM: dry matter; OM: organic matter; CP: crude protein; NDF: neutral detergent fibre; ADF: acid detergent fibre; ME: metabolisable energy.

^a Alterative feedstuffs were added at 0 (0AF), 25% (25AF), or 50% (50AF) on DM basis. Four composite samples per dietary treatment.

^b Composition per 1 kg of the diet contained (vitamin A: 8000 U; vitamin D₃: 15,000 U; vitamin E: 1 U; Mn: 0.40 µg; Zn: 0.15 µg; Fe: 0.50  µg; Cu: 0.50 µg; Co: 0.01 µg).

^c Based on tabular values (NRC 2007). ME for sesame meal and olive cake were estimated based on Obeidat et al. (2009) and Awawdeh and Obeidat (2013), respectively.

^d Estimated from alternative feedstuffs. Tannin contents (g/kg) for carob, sesame meal, and olive cake were 61 (Obeidat et al. 2011), 15 (Olude et al.2016), and 14 Sadeghi et al. 2009), respectively.

^e Calculated based on ingredients price at the time of writing the manuscript. The cost (US$/ton) for carob and sesame meal was ∼71.5, for olive cake ∼28.6, and 0 for dry bread.

Table 3. Performance and nutrient intakes of growing male Awassi lambs fed different levels of alternative feedstuffs.

	Dietary treatment^d
Item	0AF	25AF	50AF	SEM	p-value
n	9.00	9.00	9.00
Initial BW, kg	20.00	20.30	19.70	0.50	.68
Final BW, kg	33.10	32.10	30.20	1.18	.23
Total gain, kg	13.10	11.80	10.50	1.15	.30
ADG, g/d	190.00	171.00	152.00	14.40	.30
Nutrient intake, g/d
DM	1059.00^a	993.00^a	817.00^b	50.50	<.01
OM	955.00^a	900.00^a	748.00^b	48.50	<.01
CP	211.00^a	177.00^b	131.00^c	9.80	<.01
EE	24.00^c	66.00^b	85.00^a	4.10	<.01
NDF	256.00^a	262.00^a	207.00^b	15.30	.03
ADF	85.00	105.00	98.00	7.10	.16
ME, MJ/d	10.20^a	9.54^a	7.87^b	0.50	<.01
FCR^e	5.80	6.20	5.80	0.48	.81
ME efficiency^f	77.60	73.80	80.20	5.80	.74
Cost of gain, US$ /kg^g	1.83^a	1.44^b	0.92^c	0.11	<.01

DM: dry matter; OM: organic matter; CP: crude protein; NDF: neutral detergent fibre; ADF: acid detergent fibre; ME: metabolisable energy.

^a,b,c Within row, means with different superscript are different at p value <.05.

^d Alterative feedstuffs were added at 0 (0AF), 25% (25AF), or 50% (50AF) on DM basis.

^e Feed conversion ratio = (DM intake/average daily gain).

^f ME efficiency = average daily gain/ME intake; g/MJ.

^g Cost of gain = cost of DMI during the 69-day study/total gain in kg.

Table 4. Nutrient intakes, nutrient digestibilities, and nitrogen balance of growing male Awassi lambs fed different levels of alternative feedstuffs.

	Dietary treatment^d
Item	0AF	25AF	50AF	SEM	p-value
n	6	6	6
Digestibility, %
DM	76.5	75.9	82.2	4.3	.54
OM	78.8	78.4	83.2	4.0	.65
CP	78.7^a	75.0^a	66.2^b	1.6	<.01
EE	70.5^c	87.9^b	91.8^a	1.5	<.01
NDF	52.6^a	42.7^b	39.9^b	2.5	<.01
ADF	41.5^a	23.1^b	26.2^b	3.1	<.01
Nitrogen
Intake, g/d	39.5	34.3	32.3	2.3	.10
Fecal, g/d	8.4	8.6	10.9	0.8	.08
Urinary, g/d	9.4	7.9	6.3	2.1	.59
Retained, g/d	21.6	17.9	15.1	2.7	.25
Retained, % of N intake	55.2	50.0	46.9	6.2	.65

^a,b,c Within row, means with different superscript are different at p value <.05.

^d Alterative feedstuffs were added at 0 (0AF), 25% (25AF), or 50% (50AF) on DM basis.

Table 5. Carcass and non-carcass components of growing male Awassi lambs fed different levels of alternative feedstuffs.

	Dietary treatment^c
Item	0AF	25AF	50AF	SEM	p-value
n	9.00	9.00	9.00
Fasting live, kg	31.70	31.00	29.20	0.96	.19
Hot carcass, kg	15.20	14.50	13.00	0.66	.07
Cold carcass, kg	14.80	14.30	12.80	0.67	.11
Dressing percentage, kg/100 kg^d	46.60	46.10	43.50	0.96	.07
n	7.00	7.00	8.00
Carcass cuts, kg
Shoulders	5.60	5.40	5.40	0.08	.17
Legs	5.30^a^,^b	5.20^b	5.50^a	0.12	.04
Racks	1.10	1.00	1.10	0.10	.93
Loins	1.10	1.10	1.00	0.07	.62
Tail fat	0.60	0.87	0.72	0.10	.06
Non-carcass components, kg^e	1.36	1.38	1.26	0.13	.61

^a,b Within row, means with different superscript are different at p value <.05.

^c Alterative feedstuffs were added at 0 (0AF), 25% (25AF), or 50% (50AF) on DM basis.

^d Dressing percentage was calculated as the cold-carcass weight percentage of the fasted live weight.

^e Includes heart, kidneys, kidney fat, liver, lung and trachea, mesenteric fat, spleen, and testes.

Table 6. Carcass linear dimensions and fat measurements of growing male Awassi lambs fed different levels of alternative feedstuffs.

	Dietary treatment^c
Item	0AF	25AF	50AF	SEM	p-value
n	7.00	7.00	8.00
Leg fat depth (L3), mm	2.10^b	4.10^a	2.60^b	0.46	.02
Tissue depth (GR), mm	11.10^b	14.60^a	10.90^b	0.83	<.01
Rib fat depth (J), mm	2.70	4.10	2.70	0.65	.06
Eye muscle width (A), mm	51.90	51.60	47.20	1.60	.10
Eye muscle depth (B), mm	24.10	23.20	21.70	1.10	.27
Fat depth (C), mm	1.60^b	2.80^a	1.70^b	0.24	<.01
Shoulder fat depth (S2), mm	2.30	2.60	1.90	0.32	.29
Rib-eye area, cm^2	11.10	10.20	9.40	0.54	.12

^a,b Within row, means with different superscript are different at p value <.05.

^c Alterative feedstuffs were added at 0 (0AF), 25% (25AF), or 50% (50AF) on DM basis.

Table 7. Leg characteristics of growing male Awassi lambs fed different levels of alternative feedstuffs.

	Dietary treatment^a
Item, g	0AF	25AF	50AF	SEM	p-value
n	7.00	7.00	8.00
Leg weight, g	2485.00	2419.00	2550.00	123.00	.24
Total muscle, g	1555.00	1455.00	1509.00	112.00	.10
Total muscle, g/100 g	66.80	63.00	64.90	4.40	.10
Total fat, g	194.00	264.00	227.00	100.00	.32
Total fat, g/100 g	6.60	9.40	7.90	4.40	.34
Subcutaneous fat, g	157.00	227.00	190.00	88.90	.31
Subcutaneous fat, g/100 g	5.20	7.90	6.30	4.00	.33
Intermuscular fat, g	59.00	63.00	63.00	10.10	.82
Intermuscular fat, g/100 g	2.30	2.50	2.50	0.50	.78
Total bone, g	542.00	566.00	531.00	31.10	.72
Total bone, g/100 g	22.70	23.90	22.20	1.60	.76
Others, g	127.00	190.00	151.00	22.10	.18
Others, g/100 g	5.40	7.70	6.30	0.80	.17

^a Alterative feedstuffs were added at 0 (0AF), 25% (25AF), or 50% (50AF) on DM basis.

Table 8. Loin meat quality data of growing male Awassi lambs fed different levels of alternative feedstuffs.

	Dietary treatment^d
Item	0AF	25AF	50AF	SEM	p-value
n	7.00	7.00	8.00
pH	5.90	5.90	5.90	0.07	.37
Cooking loss, %	38.80	38.80	37.70	1.70	.46
Water holding capacity, %	28.50	29.30	30.90	1.40	.47
Shear force, kg/cm^2	4.90	4.70	4.90	0.32	.81
Color coordinates
Lightness, L*	36.00	38.30	37.30	1.90	.71
Redness, a*	3.10^a	1.90^b	1.90^b	0.20	<.05
Yellowness, b*	18.70	23.10	19.30	2.70	.50

^a,b,c Within row, means with different superscript are different at p value < .05.

^d Alterative feedstuffs were added at 0 (0AF), 25% (25AF), or 50% (50AF) on DM basis.

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