Using sesame hulls in Awassi lambs diets: Its effect on growth performance and carcass characteristics and meat quality

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding sesame hulls (SH) on growth performance and carcass characteristics of Awassi lambs. Twenty-one Awassi lambs (age of 70 ± 4.53 days and initial body weight 18.6 ± 0.53 kg) were randomly allocated to 3 diets. Diet 1 served as a control and contained no SH (CON); diet 2 (low sesame hulls; LSH) and 3 (high sesame hulls; HSH) consisted of 12.5% and 25% SH, respectively. Lambs were housed in individual pens and consumed isonitrogenous diets ad libitum. At the end of the study all lambs were slaughtered to evaluate their carcass and meat characteristics. Lambs fed SH had higher (P < 0.05) intakes of DM and OM than the CON diet. Intakes of NDF and EE were greater (P < 0.05) for the HSH diet than for the CON and LSH diets. Average daily gain and ADG:DMI were comparable among all diets. Cost of gain was lower (P < 0.05) for the SH diet than for the CON diet. Digestibility of DM, OM and CP was similar among all diets. However, digestibility of NDF tended to be greater (P = 0.09) for the HSH than the CON and the LSH diets. Digestibility of EE was greater (P < 0.05) for the HSH diet than the CON diet while the LSH diet was not different from the other 2 diets. Longissimus muscle weight was greater (P < 0.05) for the LSH diet than for the CON diet while the HSH diet was not different from the other 2 diets. Rib fat depth tended to be greater (P < 0.10) for the LSH when compared to the CON diet, whereas rib fat depth was not different from the other 2 diets. Musculus longissimus area was greater (P < 0.05) in lambs fed the LSH diet than the CON diet. Whiteness (L*) of longissimus muscle was greater (P < 0.05) for lambs fed LSH than CON. In conclusion, using the sesame hulls could be beneficial because it decreased the cost of gain with no negative effects on performance or carcass characteristics. Therefore, sesame hulls could be considered as an alternative inexpensive feedstuff for fattening lambs.