ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to evaluate the carcass characteristics of Santa Inês sheep fed with mazoferm as a substitute for soybean meal (0.0, 33.0, 66.0 and 100.0%). Thirty-two uncastrated males with an average initial weight of 21 ± 2.3 kg and average age of four months were used, distributed in a randomised complete block design and slaughtered after 70 days of confinement. The substitution had no effect on dry matter (1.103 kg/day) or TDN consumption (0.74 kg/day), however, crude protein consumption displayed decreasing linear behaviour (Y = 0.172 - 0.0002x). Performance and body weight at slaughter (34.10 kg) were also not affected by the substitution, so that the parameters of empty body weight (28.49 kg), hot carcass weight (16.05 kg) and cold carcass weight (15.56 kg), hot carcass yield (47.00 kg), commercial yield (45.54 kg) and biological yield (56.29 kg) all displayed similar behaviour. In addition to these parameters, fat cover, weight loss by cooling, loin eye area (1.56 mm, 3.11%, 12.16 cm2 respectively), weight and yield of the commercial cuts and morphometric measurements of the carcass, carcass compactness index (0.24 kg/cm) and leg compactness index (0.36 cm/cm) were also not affected. The substitution of soybean meal by mazoferm is recommended as it does not alter carcass characteristics in Santa Inês sheep.
Key words:
Meat; Feedlot sheep; Co-products for animal feed