The Effect of Canola Seed (Raw and Roasted) and Dietary Concentrate Level on Growth Performance and Quantitative and Qualitative Carcass Traits of Lori Male Lambs

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of canola seed (raw and roasted) and diet concentrate levels on growth performance and quantitative and qualitative characteristics of carcass of Lori male lambs. A total of 54 male 30±0.86kg lambs were selected for the experiment. Treatments consisted of two levels of canola seed (raw and roasted) and three levels of concentrate (60, 70 and 80%). The experiment was conducted as factorial with completely randomized design (2 × 3) with three replicates (each replicate containing 3 lambs). The effect of canola seed (raw and roasted) and diet concentrate level on weight gain and feed conversion ratio were significant (P<0.05). The most daily gain and the bet feed conversion ratio were 230g and 5.52 in lambs fed with roasted canola seed and 70% concentrate, respectively.  The canola seed (raw and roasted) and diet concentrate had a significant effect on lean meat percentage, total carcass fat percentage and cold and hot carcass percentage (P<0.05). The highest carcass yield, cold carcass weight, carcass and meat percentage were related to lamb fed with roasted canola seed and 70% concentrate (P<0.05). The production cost per kg of live weight, cost per kg of carcass and lean meat in lambs fed roasted canola seed and 70% concentrate were lower than other treatments. The results showed that the qualitative characteristics including pH, chemical composition and color of meat were not affected by diets.  The results of this study showed that the treatment of roasted canola seeds and 70% concentrate was superior to other treatments due to higher performance characteristics and better carcass traits.