Carcass characteristics and meat quality of sheep fed alfalfa hay to replace Bermuda grass hay
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Carcass characteristics and meat quality of sheep fed alfalfa hay to replace Bermuda grass hay José Ricardo Coelho da Silva 1 & Francisco Fernando Ramos de Carvalho 1 & Marcelo de Andrade Fereira 1 & Evaristo Jorge Oliveira de Souza 2 & Maria Inês Sucupira Maciel 3 & Lígia Maria Gomes Barreto 4 & Levi Auto Lopes 1 & Eduardo Henrique Araújo Cordeiro 1 & Antonia Sherlânea Chaves Véras 1 Received: 9 September 2018 / Accepted: 30 May 2019 # Springer Nature B.V. 2019
Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate carcass characteristics, meat quality, and organ and viscera weight of forty male sheep, not castrated, initially weighed 26.5 ± 1.85 kg, and confined for 100 days (44 days for the adjustment period and 56 days of the experimental period). The treatments were four levels of replacement of Bermuda grass hay with alfalfa hay (0, 200, 400, and 600 g/kg, based on dry matter). The design was randomized blocks (one lighter group and other heavier group) with 10 animals in each treatment. There were no effects on weight gain or carcass parameters. However, an increase was observed on dry matter intake (g/day), crude protein intake (g/day), empty body weight (kg), and subcutaneous fat thickness (mm). There was also an increase in total organ weights in kg and g/kg. The tissue composition of the leg had a quadratic effect on the bone tissue weight (g) and linear effect on adipose tissue relative (g/kg) and muscle-fat relations. There was also a quadratic effect on bone tissues (g/kg) and muscle-bone relations. Likewise, there was a quadratic effect on the qualitative characteristics of meat (measure of luminosity), with the replacement of Bermuda grass hay with alfalfa hay in sheep feed. The replacement of Bermuda grass hay with alfalfa did not change carcass characteristics and meat quality. Keywords Feedlot . Fibre . Legumes . Small ruminants
Introduction The production of sheep based on the use of roughage may be more profitable, given that this type of feed generally has a lower cost than grains such as corn (Zea mays L.) and soy
* Antonia Sherlânea Chaves Véras [email protected] 1
Department of Animal Science, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Dom Manuel de Medeiros Street, s/n, Recife, Pernambuco 52171-900, Brazil
2
Academic Unit of Serra Talhada, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Gregório Ferraz Nogueira Avenue, s/n, Serra Talhada, Pernambuco 56909-535, Brazil
3
Department of Domestic Science, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Dom Manuel de Medeiros Street, s/n, Recife, Pernambuco 52171-900, Brazil
4
Department of Animal Science, Federal University of Sergipe, Engineer Jorge Neto Highway, Silos, Nossa Senhora da Glória, SE 49680-000, Brazil
(Glycine max [L.] Merr.), especially in semi-arid regions, which are places with certain limitations in the production of grains. In this sense, the production of animal protein using roughage represents meat products that are more accessible to populations that live in such regions and that provide an improvement in nut
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