Effect of adding tallow on some production performance of Awassi ewe lambs
This experiment was conducted in animal felid/ University of Baghdad/ College of Agriculture/ Animal production from 9/11/2016 until 9/1/2017. Twelve growing Awassi ewes lambs weighted 29.13 ±1.50 kg and 8-10 month old were used in this study, the lambs were divided into three individual groups (4 animals/ group) receive the dietary treatments contain 0.2 and 4% tallow, animals were fed concentrate at 2.5% of body weight, Alfalfa hay was given ad libitum basis as the roughage, The results found that: No significant difference between groups in total and daily concentrate, roughage and total feed intake, However, final body weight not affected by the experimental diets, total and daily weight gain had higher values (p<0.05) in diets containing 2 and 4% tallow, feed conversion efficiency improved significantly (P<0.05) in 4% tallow diet compared to other groups. It can be concluded that added tallow to sheep diets improved some productive performance such as total and daily weight gain, feed conversion efficiency. Excess animal fats from human consumption can be used as an energy source in ruminants feeds. Thus benefiting from excess animal fats from human consumption as a source of energy in ruminants' rations.