The effect of breed and different ratios of groundnut hay / Dura on performance and carcass composition of Sudan Desert Sheep

Abstract

The effect of breed and different ratios of groundnut hay to dura on performance and carcass 
composition were investigated on twenty seven males of Sudan Desert lambs which consisted of 
three different ecotypes namely Shugor, Dubasi and Watish. These males were five to seven 
months of age and weighed 18.59 ± 2.47 kg on average. The experimental period lasted for 
seventy days. The three groundnut hay to dura ratios were 3:1 (A), 1:1 (B), and 1:3 (C). No 
significant differences were found on the performance characters except for average daily feed 
intake which was lower (P < 0.01) in group C (1.21 kg/head/day) compared with the other two 
groups, A (1.41 kg) and B (1.43 kg). The mean daily gain for the three treatment groups A, B 
and C pooled over the three breeds were 188.78, 200.89 and 195.33 g respectively. The 
corresponding values for the feed conversion ratio (FCR) were 7.55, 7.39 and 6.78 kg feed/kg 
gain respectively. No significant differences among either treatments or breeds were observed on 
most of the carcass characters. Breed had significant (P < 0.05) effect on both lean percent and 
lean: bone ratio, while the treatment (diets) had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on bone percent. 
No significant effect of either treatment or breed were observed on fat percent. Watish lambs had 
better carcass composition than the Dubasi and Shugor lambs as evidenced by lean : bone ratio. 
The mean values of lean:bone ratio for these breeds were 2.81, 2.62 and 2.44 respectively. 
* Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Gezira, Wad 
Medani, P. 0. Box 20, Sudan.