The effects of barley/triticale silage on performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of lambs

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of lambs fed barley/triticale silage treated with/without inoculant and enzyme mixture-based diets with similar barley supplementation. Thirty Tahirova x Sakiz crossbred weaned ram lambs (mean body weight: 34 +/- 0.5 kg) were used in this study. Lambs were randomly divided into groups of 3 and fed the respective diets. These 3 diets were: 1) hay grass + barley, 2) triticale/barley silage + barley, and 3) triticale/barley silage with inoculants and enzyme mixture + barley. There were significant differences among groups in daily live weight gain (P < 0.001). Cold carcass weight and dressing percentage based on empty body weight and carcass conformation scores were not significantly different among groups, but fatness scores and proportion of omental and mesenteric fat were significantly affected by diet (P < 0.05). No differences were found in terms of meat lightness (L*), redness (a*), and yellowness (b*) values for M. longissimus thoracis muscle. However, silage-fed lambs in both groups had higher shear force values than hay-fed lambs in the current study (P < 0.05). It can be concluded that barley/triticale silages offered with concentrate had no unfavorable effect on lamb performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality.