Abstract #T508

# T508
Body condition as a reference for slaughter of feedlot lambs fed sunflower cake.
Flavio Monção2, Euclides Oliveira1, Andréia Gabriel1, Rodrigo Sousa1, Jefferson Gandra*1, Mariana Santos1, Lais Moura1, Luiz Henrique Silva1, Leandro Silva1, Loan Silva1, Thais Pereira1, Vadim Carbonari1, 1Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias, Universidade Federal da Grande Dourados, Dourados, MS, Brazil, 2Universidade Estadual Julio de Mesquita, Jaboticabal,SP, Brasil, Jaboticabal,SP, Brazil.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative carcass traits of lambs fed different levels of sunflower cake. For this experiment 28 lambs, crossbred Suffolk, non-castrated males, with an average weight of 21 kg, aging 4 mo were used. The animals were divided into weight classes (4 treatments) and 7 animals per treatmen in a randomized block design. The lambs stayed in the feedlot for a period 70 d. The study treatments were: T 1 - Treatment control, 0% of sunflower cake (84.56% DM; 17.45% CP; 60.22% NDF; 1,34% Fat; 56.60% TDN); T 2 - Treatment with 10% sunflower cake; T 3 - Treatment with 20% sunflower cake; T 4 - Treatment with 30% of sunflower cake. The roughage: concentrate ratio of 50:50 was used on the dry matter basis (DM). When the lambs from each treatment reached the body condition in the range of (2.5 to 3.5), the animal was slaughtered and determined the following parameters: SW- slaughter weight; HCY - Hot carcass yield; CCY- Cold carcass yield; ICL- Internal carcass length; SFT- Subcutaneous fat thickness; TEX- Texture; MARB- Marbling. The statistical analyses were performed by the SAEG program. In this trial the correlation analysis of the variables allowed to verify that SW (slaughter weight) of lambs was not significantly correlated with HCY, CCY, ICL, SFT, COLOR, MARB and AEL However, it displayed a negative correlation with TEX (texture) of the meat. The HCY was highly correlated with the CCY, in other words, the greater the HCY lower losses occurred during cooling of the carcass, the better CCY. The CCY also showed a positive correlation with TEX and AEL, ICL also showed a positive correlation with the SFT. It was verified that the color and marbling of the meat showed no significant correlations with the other traits. Therefore, it was expected that animals with higher slaughter weight presented positive correlation with marbling, which did not happen in this study that could be justified by the period of confinement of the animals. About the color and texture, no significant difference was noticed. In conclusion, the sunflower cake can be used in supplements for lambs in intensive production systems in partial substitution of soybean meal up to 20%.

Key Words: body condition, sunflower cake, lamb