Growth performance and body composition of mature female sheep implanted with trenbolone acetate

Abstract

AbstractThe effect of the anabolic steroid trenbolone acetate (TEA) on growth and body composition was studied in Scottish Blackface mature female sheep weighing 45 kg. The sheep were blocked by weight and randomly allocated to be untreated controls (C) or subcutaneously implanted with 20 (Tl), 40 (T2) or 60 (T3) mg TBA 60 days before slaughter. The sheep were offered to appetite a loose-mix diet which contained an estimated 11 M] metabolizable energy and 120 g crude protein per kg dry matter. Live-weight gain and food intake, on average, were not significantly affected by the hormonal treatment which significantly reduced gut fill and significantly increased empty body and chilled carcass weights. Of the carcass tissues which were dissected only weights of total lean and intermuscular fat were significantly increased following TBA implantation. The relative development of fat, lean and bone in the carcass in the hormonally treated compared with control sheep was not significantly altered. The only effects on weights of organs and body parts associated with TBA implantation were increases in fat deposition in omental and perinephric and retroperitoneal depots. There was some evidence of an increasing response to TBA treatment with increasing dose level for weights of chilled carcass, carcass lean and the ratio of subcutaneous fat to intermuscular fat.