Comparative performance of growth and carcass traits of indigenous and crossbred (Dorper x Indigenous) Thin-Tailed Sheep
Amrih Prasetyo, Slamet Diah Folkandari, Sri Purwanti

Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN)

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate growth and carcass traits of indigenous (Thin-Tailed Sheep) [B2] and crossbred (Dorper x B2) [B4] lambs under different feeding regimens. The feeding regimens constituted feeding silages ad libtum supplemented with 150 g/head/day concentrate mix [D1] and silages adlibtum supplemented 350 g/head/day concentrate mix [D2]. The experiment was arranged as a 2 x 2 factorial (2 breeds and 2 levels of nutrition) and laid out completely at random. Thin-Tailed Sheep [B2] lambs had the highest (P < 0.01) TDMI (90.0 + 1.4), g DM/kg W0.75 compared with B4. Lambs fed D2 had higher TDMI (P < 0.0001), TDMI per metabolic body weight (P < 0.01) than lambs fed D1. Dorper x Thin-Tailed Sheep [B4] had greater average daily weight gain (68.4 + 4.1 g), empty body weight, hot (12.9 + 0.5) and cold carcass weight (12.6 + 0.5 kg) than did B2. However, weight loss after chilling was higher(3.2 + 0.3%) in pure Thin-Tailed Sheep compared with rest of lamb breeds. This study leads to the conclusion that crossing B2 with Dorper improved feed utilization, growth rate and carcass parameters.

Keywords: Carcass characteristics, Crossbred lambs, Feed intake, Indigenous

Topic: Animal Production