Growth performance and meat characteristics of the first filial Awassi Rambouillet callipyge ram lambs

Vet World Vol.12 June-2019 Article-9

Research Article

Veterinary World, 12(6): 783-788

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2019.783-788

Khaleel I. Z. Jawasreh¹, A. H. Al-Amareen², and P. Y. Aad³

1. Department of Animal Production, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan.
2. National Agricultural Research Center, Jordan.
3. Department of Sciences, Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences, Notre Dame University, Lebanon.

Background and Aim: This study was designed to introduce the callipyge (CLPG) and 50% of Rambouillet sheep genes to improve meat quality and quantity of Awassi (AW) sheep.

Materials and Methods: The CLPG mutation was introduced into the AW sheep through frozen semen of homozygous Rambouillet rams for the CLPG mutation. Four ram lambs from the first-generation Rambouillet callipyge Awassi (F1-RCA) and five from pure AW were recruited for a fattening trial conducted in individual pens using standard ration, following which ram lambs were slaughtered for carcass and meat evaluation.

Results: Final body weight, dry matter intake, average daily gain, and feed conversion ratio were significantly higher in F1-RCA than AW. Hot and cold carcass weights and the other carcass cuts' weights, except for the fat tail, were heavier in F1-RCA than AW. There was no difference in dressing percentage between the two genetic groups (p>0.05). All non-carcass components' weights, except spleen, kidney, and testis, were higher in F1-RCA. Total lean, total bone, and intermuscular fat weight were greater in F1-RCA, but bone-to-lean ratio was lower in F1-RCA when compared with AW (p<0.01). No differences (p>0.05) were observed in all meat quality parameters for muscle longissimus with the exception of pH, redness color, and tenderness that were lower (p<0.05) in F1-RCA than AW. F1-RCA lambs had larger longissimus muscle area (30.9 vs. 16.9 cm2) and less leg fat depth (11.1 vs. 17.4 mm).

Conclusion: The implications of this research show the potential of 50% of Rambouillet genes and the CLPG mutation to improve growth and meat characteristics in AW-Rambouillet crosses and can be used further to develop a meat-type AW with improved productivity and muscle mass. Keywords: Awassi sheep, callipyge, carcass composition, gene introgression, growth performance.

Keywords: Awassi sheep, callipyge, carcass composition, gene introgression, growth performance.

How to cite this article: Jawasreh KIZ, Al-Amareen AH, Aad PY (2019) Growth performance and meat characteristics of the first filial Awassi-Rambouillet callipyge ram lambs, Veterinary World, 12(6): 783-788.

Received: 23-01-2019 Accepted: 18-04-2019 Published online: 11-06-2019

Corresponding author: Khaleel I. Z. Jawasreh E-mail: kijawasreh@just.edu.jo

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2019.783-788

Copyright: Jawasreh KIZ, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.