Abstract
Various trials have been proceeded to develop forage feeding systems that meet nutritional requirements for meat producing sheep and goats under the SCC-81 project: Sustainable Small Ruminant Production in the Southeastern United States. Small ruminants are fed most of their required nutrients from forages to increase the profit to the livestock producers. However, pasture-based production systems have a limitation because of seasonal variation of nutrient contents in pastures. This often means pasture alone does not always provide adequate nutrition for fast growing animals. Furthermore, different forms and energy levels of diets influence carcass composition and meat properties in food animals. Meat animal carcasses vary in composition through genetic, nutritional, and environmental factors. In general, dressing percentages of sheep and goats ranged from around 40% to 60%, and their shoulder and leg cuts represent more than half of their entire carcass weight. Pasture-based systems of meat production have sustained low live weight gains relative to those achieved with intensive grain-based systems. Subsequently, sheep and goats finished at pasture have produced lighter carcasses with a low fat content, which is rich in beneficial fatty acids such as alpha-linolenic and conjugated linoleic acids. Meat-producing sheep and goats with high-energy intake generally increased the juiciness, tenderness, and texture of their meat, but the consumer acceptability was lower because of higher content of fat in their meat than those from sheep and goats finished on forage diets. A brief overview of the recent works in the SCC-81 project will be presented in order to illustrate the impacts of newly developed forage feeding systems on carcass characteristics and meat quality of sheep and goats.
Assessment of lifetime performance of small ruminants under different feeding systems
