Abstract
To investigate whether a home-grown lupin/barley concentrate feed could support similar levels of lamb productivity and carcass quality to a commercial lamb finishing diet, two iso-nitrogenous concentrates were offered to castrated male Texel-cross lambs. Diets comprised barley straw plus either: home-grown concentrate viz. crimped narrow leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolious cv. Boruta), crimped barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. Propino) and sheep mineral (705, 270 and 25 g kg-1 dry matter respectively); or, a pelleted, commercial lamb finisher (Control). Straw and each treatment diet were offered ad libitum over 56 d to 4 replicate pens of 5 lambs, totalling 20 lambs per treatment. Group intakes were recorded over days 0-28 and lambs were weighed and condition scored at 7 d intervals throughout the experiment. From day 29 onwards, individual lambs were selected out for slaughter and carcass characteristics were recorded. Results showed no differences in the productivity, concentrate conversion efficiency, days to finish or carcass characteristics of lambs offered either the crimped lupin/barley concentrate or control diet. Overall, the findings of this study show that home-grown crimped lupin/barley concentrate diets can be used to finish lambs without any detrimental effects on productivity or carcass characteristics when compared to a commercial lamb finishing diet.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | EGF at 50: The Future of European Grasslands |
| Subtitle of host publication | Grassland Science in Europe |
| Editors | Alan Hopkins |
| Publisher | Prifysgol Aberystwyth | Aberystwyth University |
| Pages | 651-654 |
| Number of pages | 4 |
| Volume | 19 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 0992694019 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-0992694012 |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2014 |
Keywords
- Lupin
- Lupinus Angustifolius
- crimped grain
- lamb
- home-grown