Effects of two different feeding system on growth performance of assaf lambs

This research was conducted at the Experiment and Research Farm of Çukurova University Agricultural Faculty. In this experiment 28 Assaf (5/8 Awassi and 3/8 East-Friesen) lambs were used which were born in 1996. The lambs were fed ad-libitum with growth ration and alfalfa hay from the age of second week old. By contrast, lamb rearing system used at farm was applied for the control group of lambs. The experimental and control group lambs were gained 18.931±1.080 kg and 15.150±1.118 kg total live weight, respectively at the end of growth period (63 days). The daily live weight gains for the experiment and the control groups were found 222±0.19 g/day and 166±0.18 g/day, respectively, during the growth period (P<0.05). Experimental group of lambs showed higher body size than the control group (PO.05). The experimental group of lambs were consumed 373.62 g/day at the nineth week and 158.8 g/day during the growth priod.Key Words: Lambs, Growth, Feeding, Performance