Growth performance and carcass characteristics of Awassi lambs fed diets containing carob pods (Ceratonia siliqua L.)

Thirty-three Awassi lambs (18.0 ± 0.86 kg initial body weight; 75 ± 2.21 days of age) divided equally and were used in a completely randomized design to study the effect of partial replacement of barley grain by carob pods (CARP) on growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality. Treatment diets were no CARP (CON), 125 g/kg CARP (CARP125), and 250 g/kg CARP (CARP250) of dietary dry matter. At the end of the experiment all lambs were slaughtered to evaluate carcass characteristics and meat quality. Dry matter (DM) intake was similar among treatment diets (945.8, 932.8, and 999.5 g/d for the CON, CARP125, and CARP250 diets, respectively, P > 0.05). Other nutrient intakes (organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), and acid detergent fiber (ADF)) followed the same pattern. There were no differences (P > 0.05) among treatment diets with regard to nutrient digestibility. Similarly, average daily gain and feed conversion ratio were comparable among treatment diets. Cost of gain ($/kg gain) was decreased (P < 0.05) for CARP250 fed lambs than for lambs fed the CON diet, with no significant differences were detected between the CON and CARP125 treatment diets and averaged $1.97, 1.69, and 1.49 for the CON, CARP125, and CARP250 treatment diets, respectively. No significant differences were observed among treatment diets with respect to all carcass characteristics and meat quality parameters. In conclusion, the results indicated that replacement part of barley grain by carob pods had no adverse effect on feed intake, growth performance, and carcass characteristics and meat quality while having favorable effect on cost of gain of Awassi lambs fed fattening diets.