Abstract
Lamb rearing is a key point to ensure good quality at the end of the production cycle. Fostering and artificial rearing are techniques commonly used when natural rearing is compromised. However, there is a lack of research investigating their impact on the product’s quality, especially when lambs are slaughtered late, around 6 months of age. The current study investigated the effects of artificially reared and fostered lambs on growth, carcass and meat quality. The three foster methods under study were birth fluids, cervical stimulation combined with birth fluids and restraint. Animals were weaned at 3 months of age, and processed at 6 months of age. Artificially reared lambs presented lower weight gains than ewe reared ones at young ages. They also presented worse conformation scores at the processing plant. No differences could be found for growth rates, carcass or meat quality among the foster methods tested.
Highlights
In 2013, the worlds production of sheep meat surpassed 8.589 million tonnes, with Europe producing around 1.130 million tonnes (FAOSTATS, 2016)
There was a significant rearing effect on daily weight gain on period 1, period 2 and period 3 with lambs reared by ewes gaining significantly more weight than artificially reared (AR) lambs (P
Results showed that for at least the initial three months of life, before weaning, the artificial rearing of lambs under the conditions of the current study significantly reduced the lambs’ daily weight gain
Summary
In 2013, the worlds production of sheep meat surpassed 8.589 million tonnes, with Europe producing around 1.130 million tonnes (FAOSTATS, 2016). If the UK produces around 289,000 tonnes of sheep meat per year (FAOSTATS, 2016) this could theoretically indicate that a large amount of meat could be potentially wasted because of lambs not reaching acceptable market requirements. Late weaning is associated with better growth rates and conformation scores but regarding meat quality no significant effects have been usually reported. These effects on growth and carcass quality are traditionally linked to the physiological changes needed to switch from a liquid to a solid food source and its repercussions in overall intake (Cañeque et al, 2000)
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