Substituting redberry juniper for oat hay in lamb feedlot diets: Carcass characteristics, adipose tissue fatty acid composition, and sensory panel traits

- Ground juniper can effectively replace oat hay in lamb feedlot diets.
- Increasing juniper in the diet quadratically increased hot carcass weight.
- Using juniper enhanced juiciness, tenderness, and flavor intensity in chops.
- Juniper seems to be as valuable as oat hay in lamb feedlot diets.
- Juniper should be given greater consideration as a dietary ingredient.

We hypothesized that ground juniper and dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) fed to lambs would have no negative effects on end products. Lambs were individually fed diets containing mainly sorghum grain and oat hay (control) or DDGS-based diets consisting mainly of DDGS, sorghum grain, and oat hay (0JUN), or 33% (33JUN), 66% (66JUN), or 100% (100JUN) of the hay replaced by juniper. Lambs fed control had greater (P < 0.03) shrunk BW and HCW vs. lambs fed 0JUN, but other carcass characteristics and sensory panel traits were similar (P > 0.23). As juniper increased in the DDGS-based diets, HCW increased quadratically (P = 0.01) and LM fatty acid composition was altered. Feeding juniper did not negatively affect (P > 0.57) off-flavor in chops, but enhanced (linear, P < 0.05) juiciness, tenderness, and flavor intensity. Lambs fed diets with a combination of oat hay and ground juniper appeared to produce the most acceptable carcasses and lamb chops.