Growth performance, carcass traits and meat quality of heavy lambs reared in a warm or cold environment during winter

Abstract

The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of winter rearing environment on the growth performance and meat quality of heavy lambs. Half of sixty-four Dorset lambs (32 males and 32 females) were raised in each of two different environments: warm and cold with average temperature of 10.9 ± 0.7 °C and -2.0 ± 5.2 °C, respectively. The lambs were slaughtered at live weights of 41-45 kg for females and 46-50 kg for males. Cold environment had no adverse effect on either growth performance or carcass quality. The rate of longissimus dorsi muscle deposition (P = 0.049) and its depth at slaughter (P = 0.027) were rather greater in lambs reared in the cold environment and a higher proportion of oxido-glycolytic fibres (P = 0.047) was also observed in this muscle. Rearing environment had only a minor effect on the organoleptic qualities, with the cold environment promoting juiciness of the meat (P = 0.043). Therefore, cold environment rearing such as used in this study represents an economic advantage for lamb producers by reducing the costs associated with the construction of insulated barns, while maintaining growth performance, as well as carcass and meat quality. Key words: Lamb, rearing environment, temperature, growth, carcass, meat quality