the effect of whole cottonseed on performance, carcass efficiency and intestinal morphology of fattening arabi male lambs

this study was conducted to determine the effects of feeding different levels of whole cottonseed (0, 5, 10 and 15 % wsc) on dry matter intake (dmi), live weight gain and feed conversion ratio (fcr), carcass efficiency and small intestinal morphology of arabi finishing lambs. thirty-six arabi male lambs (29.8±1.6 kg) were allocated to 4 groups according to a completely randomized design. the diets were fed ad-libitum in form of total mixed ration (tmr) for 70 days. at days of 70 all lambs were slaughtered. after that carcass data were collected. fcr significantly reduced in 5, 10 and 15 % wsc feeding in comparison to 0 % (6.06, 5.28, 5.39 vs. 6.39, respectively). furthermore average daily gain was increased significantly by wsc supplementation (p<0.05). the best results for carcass weight and dressing percentage variables was obtained for using in 10% wsc. villous morphology was affected positively by diets and place of sampling in small intestine. in sum up wsc was consumed well by fattening arabi lambs and best result was resulted from 10 % wsc.