Economic evaluation of three systems of alimentation used in finishing lambs

Abstract

Eighteen castrated male lambs of the Texel breed were randomly diestribut3ed among the following treatments: T1 = confinement; T2 = pasture with supplementation; T3 = pasture without supplementation. At 144 days of age the lambs were slaughtered after a 12hr fast. Live weight at slaughter and warm carcass weight were lower (P≤0.05) for T3 lambs compared with those confined or supplemented at pasture, which resulted in lower gross income. Profitability in relation to liveweight was higher (P≤0.05) for the lambs on pasture without supplementation relative to T1, whereas the profitability in relation to carcass weight numerically was higher for both T1 and T2 than for T3. The availability of herbage dry matter at the end of the experiment was 326% higher for the supplementation treatment than without supplementation (T2 vs. T3). (Portuguese)