Performance, Carcass Percentage, and Production Cost for Awassi Lambs Fed High Energy Diet for Short Fattening Period

An experiment was conducted to indicate the effect of feeding high energy diet for 45 days on male and female Awassi lambs’ performance, carcass percentage, and cost of production. A total of twenty four Awassi lambs (12 males, and 12 females) averaging 18.2±0.70 kg body weight were used. Lambs were assigned randomly to two different groups (groups A and B); each group had twelve lambs (6 males and 6 females) and fed two different diets (low energy diet and high energy diet). Feed intake, total gain, average daily gain and feed conversion ratio was calculated and body measurements (height and length) were recorded. Lambs were slaughtered at the end of experiment, to evaluate carcass percentage. Cost of production was calculated based on ingredients’ price at the time of the experiment. Final body weight, weight gain, and average daily gain were greater (p < 0.05); while feed conversion ratio was lower (p < 0.05) for lambs fed high energy diet than lambs fed low energy diet. Body length differences measured to be greater (p < 0.05) for male lambs fed high energy diet than other lambs. Fasted weight, hot carcass weight, and dressing percentage were higher (p < 0.05) for lambs fed the high energy diet. Cost of gain was lower (p < 0.05) for lambs in group B compared to lambs in group A. Therefore, the economical efficiency in this experiment was greater for lambs fed high energy diet than lambs fed the control diet during 45 days fattening period.