Performance of growing-fattening lambs fed diets containing different proportions of cotton seed meal

✍ Scribed by Kandylis, Kostas; Nikokyris, Panayiotis N; Deligiannis, Kostas

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 93 KB
• Volume: 79
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5142
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0010(199909)79:12<1613::aid-jsfa409>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

A lamb feedlot study was conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of cotton seed meal (CSM) as compared with that of sun¯ower meal as protein supplements for growing lambs. Forty-®ve Karagouniko male lambs immediately after weaning, having an average liveweight of approximately 14.7 kg, were assigned randomly to one of three growing lamb rations. CSM substituted for sun¯ower meal in a growing±®nishing feedlot diet at levels of 0, 10 and 20% to provide 0, 50 and 100% of supplemental protein requirement, respectively. Diets were fed ad libitum and water was offered freely. All diets were approximately isonitrogenous and isocaloric. After being fed for 61 days and having reached a liveweight of approximately 27.6 kg, ®ve lambs from each treatment were slaughtered and carcass data were collected. No signi®cant differences (P b 0.05) in feed intake or the weight increase of lambs were found among groups given the 0, 10 and 20% treatments, indicating that lambs utilized CSM as effectively as sun¯ower meal when fed on an equal crude protein and crude ®bre basis. The dressing percentage of the cold carcass, but not the warm carcass, and intestinal content weight were signi®cantly in¯uenced (P 0.05) by the diet. Cooler shrink and intestinal fat, and perirenal fat and the combined weight of intestinal and perirenal fat were signi®cantly (P 0.05) correlated. Feeding margin was highest for the control diet, intermediate for the 10% CSM diet and lowest for the 20% CSM diet. It was concluded that CSM is accepted readily by growing sheep and can be incorporated into diets as a source of supplemental protein for growing±fattening lambs. No evidence of gossypol toxicity was noted.