Determination of fattening performance of awassi lambs in artificial pasture and intensive conditions

The aim of this study was to compare the fattening performances and economic analysis of the fattening system of male lambs under the artificial pasture and intensive conditions. After the Post-weaning, 80 lambs were divided into two groups; the artificial pasture group which was fed on artificial pasture and concentrate feed and the intensive group was fed ad libitum and grazing. For the intensive group, 100 g alfalfa per animal and ad libitum concentrate feed was given. Fattening lasted 56 days and concentrate feed containing 15.81 % crude protein and 2815.32 kcal/kg ME was used. The lambs in the artificial pasture group, which were limited to 1.5% concentrate feed of their live weight, were grazed for at least 6-8 hours in the pasture. The finishing live weights of the intensive and artificial pasture groups were 40.30 and 38.51 kg, total live weight gains were 14.93 and 15.54 kg and daily live weight gains were 0.267 and 0.278 kg/day, respectively. The ADF, NDF, crude protein and dry matter ratios of the artificial pasture were found to be 33.9%, 53.8%, 16.5% and 94.3%, respectively. It was determined that the lambs in the artificial pasture group performed better than the lambs in the intensive group in terms of the cost/output ratio of the fattening. The results concluded that the fattening performances of the lambs in intensive and artificial pasture conditions were similar, but in terms of the cost of feeding, feeding in the artificial pasture was better than the intensive fattening system.