Feeding systems and periods of finishing on the body and carcass measurements of lambs slaughtered in the South Central region of the Paraná

Abstract

The objective was to determine the effect of feeding system and time of the year on the in vivo and carcass characteristics of lambs slaughtered at the Cooperative Cooperaliança (Guarapuava-PR). Ile de France lambs and their crossbreds (n=253) were evaluated at slaughter with 39.6 kg of mean body weight in three periods between April and September 2010. Four feeding systems for finishing of lambs were identified: a) grazing dams + lambs with creep-feeding for lambs (n=67); b) no supplemented, grazing dams + lambs (n=47); c) grazing dams + lambs, all of them supplemented with concentrate (n=30); d) irregular system of feeding (n=109). Measurements on lambs were carried out in vivo and by ultrasound before slaughter and the carcass measurements were taken before and after chilling. Lambs delivered for slaughter between the end of August and the first half of September showed better results (p <0.05) for muscle development, dressing percentage and fat thickness in the carcass compared to that slaughtered in April and June. It was concluded that the feeding system with supplementation for dams and sucking lambs resulted in better characteristics for body and carcass measurements compared to other systems.