Fattening lamb nutrition. Approaches and strategies in feedlot

- Kinds of lambs produced in the Iberian market. Differentiated nutritional criteria are required. Importance.
- Types of feed used in Iberian feedlots lambs farms. Database of 127 different feed for lambs (NIR analysis and label information) sold in Spain and Portugal (2001 to 2015) involving 39 firms.
- Different production approaches in feedlot lambs farms.
- High Feed Efficiency (Good Performance indexes).
- Rumen Health.
- Meat Quality (Low fat content).
- Carcass Yield (%) Improvement.
- Factors affecting Zootechnical Indexes.-Study based on 369 fattening lambs trials (involving 64 farms (Spain and Portugal) and 20 firms of compound feed makers).
- Prediction of technical results in fattening lambs.-Predictions about FI (Feed Index; amount of feed to gain a kilo of live body weight) calculations through multiple regression analysis from initial and final body weight figures.

Several kinds of lamb are currently being produced in the Iberian market and all of them require different feeding strategies. Gender, season of the year, genotype, fattening score and priorities should be kept in mind when planning farm management to achieve not only a good product but also good profitability. Despite the great variability in fattening lamb trials, we can predict technical and economic performance from the initial and final body weight, depending on the sex, genotype and season.