Meat productivity of sheep during feeding and fattening

Abstract

Aim. A comparative study of the meat productivity of sheep during feeding and fattening. Materials and Methods. In the course of the study, generally accepted zootechnical and mathematical methods of analysis were used, including the live weight of lambs was determined by monthly weighing, the meat productivity of experimental animals was studied according to the results of the control slaughter of three rams from each experimental group according to the VIJ method (1978). The digital material was biometrically processed using Microsoft Office Excel program. Results. As our research has shown, the fattening of young animals has allowed to increase the live weight by 3.78 kg or 9.5% compared to sheep on feeding with fertilizing concentrates and by 7.17 kg or 18.5% – with animals without fertilizing. With extensive feeding of lambs from 4 to 8 months of age, the average daily gain in live weight was only 68.6 g, with intensive feeding – 28.7% more. Fattening is the most effective, with an average daily increase in live weight of 129.7 g, which is 2 times more compared to extensive and 25.9% with intensive feeding. The carcass weight of sheep removed from fattening was higher than that of peers removed from intensive feeding by 10.8% and lambs removed from extensive feeding – by 20.9%, and the slaughter yield, respectively, by 0.7 and 1.8 absolute percent. Conclusion. The sheep, which are from 4 to 8 months of age on fattening, had high live weight gains and slaughter indicators. To increase the production of mutton and improve its quality, it is advisable to use animal fattening.