Abstract
Twenty one Awassi lambs (4 month old and 23.59 ± 031 kg body weight) were used to investigate the effect of different levels of protein on growth, carcass traits, body composition, digestibility and some blood parameters. The lambs were divided equally and randomly and penned individually into three treatment groups, and fed ad lib on low protein (129.1 T1) medium protein (140.6 T2) and high protein (151.1 T3, g/kg DM). After 72 days of fattening, 5 lambs from each treatment were chosen randomly and slaughtered. The result showed that lambs fed on T3 diet had significantly (P<0.05) higher daily gain (210.83 g), better feed efficiency (4.8 kg/kg), higher dressing percentage (51.67 %), and rib eye area muscle (12.05 cm2) than those fed in T2 and T3, as well as digestibility coefficient of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, and total digestible nutrient (TDN) was also numerically higher in group fed (151.1 g/kg DM) as compared with lambs received low or medium level of protein. It could be concluded that the high dietary protein level produce the better performance, carcass traits and nutrient digestion of lambs.
Highlights
Animal meat production efficiency can be defined as the return of salable product per unit feed input [5]
Feeding lambs with 18% crude protein (CP) diet is common practice, it was observed that lambs feed 16 and 18 % CP diet had higher body weight gain and dry matter intake than lambs fed 10, 12 and 14 % CP diet, and there were no difference between lambs fed 16 and 18 % CP [10]
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different dietary crude protein levels on performance, digestibility and some biochemical parameters of Awassi lambs
Summary
Animal meat production efficiency can be defined as the return of salable product per unit feed input [5]. Studies were conducted to determine the optimum dietary crude protein (CP) level for lambs. Since the increasing cost of protein and environmental pollution due to emission of ammonia into the atmosphere from degradation of urea in extra demands the determination of optimum levels of dietary protein for animal to avoid unnecessary loss of nitrogen, optimize production and minimize costs of feed and risk of environmental pollution. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of different dietary crude protein levels on performance, digestibility and some biochemical parameters of Awassi lambs. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present study was carried out at animal farm, College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences, University of Duhok, where 21 weaned Awassi ram lambs (4 month) with an average live body weight of 23.59± 0.31 kg were used.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
