Prelimenary indicators of growth, carcass and economic traits of yearling ossimi and barki lambs

الملخص EN

The present study was conducted using 14 lambs of Ossimi (O) and Barki (B) (n=7 each) to compare growth and carcass characteristics as well as some economic indicators.

Starting age of the experimental lambs was 6 months with initial body weight (BW) of 24.4 and 24.0 kg for O and B, respectively.

The experimental period lasted for 6 months and ended when lambs reached 12 months of age.

Lambs were fed according to their live body weight on concentrate feed mixture and rice straw.

Monthly weighing was carried out to determine average daily gain (ADG) and total gain.

At the end of the experiment four lambs per breed were slaughtered to determine carcass weight.

The Longissimus lumbarum (L.

lumbarum) at the 9th, 10th and 11th ribs (rib cut) muscle was separated from the carcass to determine chemical composition, area (cm2) of L.

lumbarum, physical components of rib cut and dressing%.

At 12 months old Barki lambs had higher BW (+ 4 kg) compared with Ossimi.

ADG throughout the experimental period were 130 ± 0.02 and 153 ± 0.01 gm for Ossimi and Barki lambs, respectively.

Barki lambs had nonsignificant higher Dressing percentage (52.2 ± 1.2) compared to Ossimi (50.5 ± 2.4), and lower total fat percentage (- 5%).

No significant difference was observed between chemical composition of meat of the two breeds except fat which was higher (P<0.05) in Ossimi lambs.

Economic indicators showed that cost of feeding to produce 1 kg gain was less (P<0.05) in Barki (L.E 9.4) than in Ossimi (L.E.

11.2), in addition to nonsignificant increase of benefit/cost ratio of Barki (1.57) than of Ossimi (1.47).

In conclusion growth traits and economic indicators during the growth period from 6 to 12 months old were better in Barki lambs compared to Ossimi.