SAANEN CARCASS QUANTITATIVE AND Longissimus dorsi QUALITATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF FEEDING WITH PROTECTED FAT

Abstract

Twenty-eight uncastrated male Saanen goat kids, on a feedlot, with an average slaughter weight of 28 kg were used to evaluate the effects of feeding goat kids with metabolizable energy levels by the addition of protected fat to the diet. The effects on the quantitative characteristics of the carcass and qualitative characteristics of the loin were assessed. The animals were randomly distributed into one of the four groups: one control group (without protected fat) was fed a diet containing 2.5 Mcal of metabolizable energy/kg dry matter (ME/kg DM). The other three groups were fed diets containing 2.6, 2.7 or 2.8 Mcal of ME/kgDM, using protected fat to increase the energy levels. The carcass quantitative characteristics were not influenced by the diets; however, a reduction was observed on the days of the feedlot and slaughter age for the animals fed protected fat diets. The short length and fat thickness in the loin has improved from diets with protected fat addition. The muscle, fat and bone proportions and the chemical composition of the Longissimus dorsi were similar between the diets. There was an increase in the fatty acid profiles of the polyunsaturated fatty acids linoleic and linolenic and improvements in the total omega-3 levels and the ratios of omega-6: omega-3. The protected fat can be used to feed Saanen kid goats as an alternative, increasing the energetic density of the diets up to 2.8 Mcal of ME/kg DM with improvements on the omega-3 quantity. And it can also be used to increase the ratio of omega-6:omega-3 in the Longissimus dorsi.