Empirical assessment of short-term preferences of tropical forages by crossbred bull calves

Short-term preference studies were carried out with growing calves based on diets of local grass forages found in Turiani division, Morogoro, Tanzania. Four intact crossbred male calves aged 7 - 8 months and weighing 82.75 kg were used. Four grass species were provided either singly [Panicum maximum (T1), Panicum trichocladum (T2), Pennisetum purpureum (T3) and Rottboelia cochinchinensis (T4)] or in combinations of two forages in equal proportions [P. maximum + P. trichocladum (M1), P. maximum + R. cochinchinensis (M2), P. trichocladum + R. cochinchinensis (M3) and P. purpureum + P. trichocladum (M4)]. The single grass species and mixtures were respectively fed for four days. Animals were simultaneously observed while each animal was feeding on one of the four treatments in sequential periods of 15 min each in random orders (1, 2, 3 and 4) every test-day. The amounts of herbage eaten were estimated by differences between offered and left feed. The intake rate of 15.72 gDM/min, bite rate of 5.31 bites/min and bite mass of 3.11 g/bite for T3 was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than other single grass forages. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between intake rate of T1 (9.78 g/min) and T2 (9.36 g/min). Total DM intake of M3 and M4 of 224.54 and 232.52 g/15 min respectively were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of M1 and M2. All grass mixtures had bite mass significantly different (P < 0.05) from each other although that of 3.34 gDM/bite M4 was the highest thus suggesting that whether singly or in mixture P. purpureum was the most preferred grass forage in the study area. It is concluded that in order to optimize DM intake farmers should consider the type of grasses and their level of inclusion in grass mixture depending on their preference by cattl

Preliminary evaluation of slaughter and carcass traits of castrates of Tanzanian long fat-tailed sheep slaughtered at different ages

Journal of animal production advances, 2012; 2(12): 510-520The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of age on slaughter and carcass traits of castrates of Tanzanian long fat-tailed sheep (TLS) purchased from the auction markets in Dodoma region, Tanzania. A total of 40 castrates aged 9, 12, 15 and 18 months old were slaughtered at Dodoma abattoir within one week of purchase. Slaughter body weight (SBW) was significantly different (P0.05) with increasing slaughter age while the proportional of gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) (as %SBW) increased with increasing slaughter age. Dressing percentage on empty body weight basis ranged from 50 to 54 and did not differ with slaughter age. Older animals (18 months old) had higher lean and low fat content and had significantly tough meat with 69.7 Ncm-2 shear forces. Gross margin ranged from USD 17.8 to 32.8 with realization of small net profit between 0.64 and 1.17 USD when animals are slaughtered direct from extensiv

Empirical assessment of short-term preferences of tropical forages by crossbred bull calves

Short-term preference studies were carried out with growing calves based on diets of local grass forages found in Turiani division, Morogoro, Tanzania. Four intact crossbred male calves aged 7 - 8 months and weighing 82.75 kg were used. Four grass species were provided either singly [Panicum maximum (T1), Panicum trichocladum (T2), Pennisetum purpureum (T3) and Rottboelia cochinchinensis (T4)] or in combinations of two forages in equal proportions [P. maximum + P. trichocladum (M1), P. maximum + R. cochinchinensis (M2), P. trichocladum + R. cochinchinensis (M3) and P. purpureum + P. trichocladum (M4)]. The single grass species and mixtures were respectively fed for four days. Animals were simultaneously observed while each animal was feeding on one of the four treatments in sequential periods of 15 min each in random orders (1, 2, 3 and 4) every test-day. The amounts of herbage eaten were estimated by differences between offered and left feed. The intake rate of 15.72 gDM/min, bite rate of 5.31 bites/min and bite mass of 3.11 g/bite for T3 was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than other single grass forages. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between intake rate of T1 (9.78 g/min) and T2 (9.36 g/min). Total DM intake of M3 and M4 of 224.54 and 232.52 g/15 min respectively were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of M1 and M2. All grass mixtures had bite mass significantly different (P < 0.05) from each other although that of 3.34 gDM/bite M4 was the highest thus suggesting that whether singly or in mixture P. purpureum was the most preferred grass forage in the study area. It is concluded that in order to optimize DM intake farmers should consider the type of grasses and their level of inclusion in grass mixture depending on their preference by cattl

Effects of days in feedlot on physico-chemical properties and meat tenderness from Tanzanian long fat-tailed sheep

J. Anim. Prod. Adv., 2013, 3(2):40-48The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of days in feedlot (DF) on physico-chemical properties and meat tenderness of Tanzanian long fat-tailed sheep (TLS) of Tanzania. Seventy castrated TLS (12 months old and mean live weight of 21.1 0.6 kg) were randomly assigned to seven treatment periods of DF in a completely random design experiment. The periods were 0, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70 and 84 days, designated as DF0, DF14, DF28, DF42, DF56, DF70 and DF84, respectively. Each treatment period had 10 experimental animals. Immediately after purchase, DF0 animals were slaughtered and their meat quality characteristics were determined. DF14, DF28, DF42, DF56, DF70 and DF84 groups were fed Cenchrus ciliaris hay as basal diet and molasses-based concentrate diet (160 g CP and 10.9 MJ ME/kgDM) and water on ad-libitum basis. At each period of stay, 10 experimental animals were randomly selected and slaughtered until the end of the feedlot period of 84-d was reached when the last group was slaughtered. Carcass pH and temperature were measured at 45 min, 6 h, 24 h and 48 h post mortem at the m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LL) muscle. The m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LL), semimembranosus (SM) and supraspinosus (SP) muscles were then dissected from the carcass and evaluated for drip loss (%), cooking loss (%) and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values, after zero and nine days of aging. The results from this study revealed that there was a significant (P0.05) affected by period of stay. Cooking losses decreased (P<0.05) with increasing DF and aging duration from 0 to 9 days. The WBSF values of cooked muscles were highest (P<0.05) in SP followed by SM and lastly LL and their overall tenderness increased with increasing DF. There was an interaction effects between DF and post mortem aging time on tenderness such that castrates under DF56, DF70 and DF84 showed the lowest shear force values in LL and SMmuscles after nine days of aging. The results indicated that 42 days was optimal DF for production of high quality meat in Tanzanian long fat-tailed sheep

Effects of days in feedlot on physico-chemical properties and meat tenderness from Tanzanian long fat-tailed sheep

J. Anim. Prod. Adv., 2013, 3(2):40-48The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of days in feedlot (DF) on physico-chemical properties and meat tenderness of Tanzanian long fat-tailed sheep (TLS) of Tanzania. Seventy castrated TLS (12 months old and mean live weight of 21.1 0.6 kg) were randomly assigned to seven treatment periods of DF in a completely random design experiment. The periods were 0, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70 and 84 days, designated as DF0, DF14, DF28, DF42, DF56, DF70 and DF84, respectively. Each treatment period had 10 experimental animals. Immediately after purchase, DF0 animals were slaughtered and their meat quality characteristics were determined. DF14, DF28, DF42, DF56, DF70 and DF84 groups were fed Cenchrus ciliaris hay as basal diet and molasses-based concentrate diet (160 g CP and 10.9 MJ ME/kgDM) and water on ad-libitum basis. At each period of stay, 10 experimental animals were randomly selected and slaughtered until the end of the feedlot period of 84-d was reached when the last group was slaughtered. Carcass pH and temperature were measured at 45 min, 6 h, 24 h and 48 h post mortem at the m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LL) muscle. The m. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LL), semimembranosus (SM) and supraspinosus (SP) muscles were then dissected from the carcass and evaluated for drip loss (%), cooking loss (%) and Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) values, after zero and nine days of aging. The results from this study revealed that there was a significant (P0.05) affected by period of stay. Cooking losses decreased (P<0.05) with increasing DF and aging duration from 0 to 9 days. The WBSF values of cooked muscles were highest (P<0.05) in SP followed by SM and lastly LL and their overall tenderness increased with increasing DF. There was an interaction effects between DF and post mortem aging time on tenderness such that castrates under DF56, DF70 and DF84 showed the lowest shear force values in LL and SMmuscles after nine days of aging. The results indicated that 42 days was optimal DF for production of high quality meat in Tanzanian long fat-tailed sheep