Growth, rumen development and meat quality in lambs of Blackhead Pleven breed, weaned at 25 and 70 days of age

The objective of this study was to compare the growth rate, rumen development and some quality parameters of carcass and meat in lambs weaned at 25 and 70 days of age. The average live weight gain during experimental period was 268 g per day for suckling lambs and 233 g per day for lambs on dry feed. The difference of 13.1% in daily gain was not significant at P<0.05. The lambs weaned at 25 days of age showed tendency for higher dressing percentage and carcass weight, more separable internal fat, and better carcass fattiness (P>0.05), compared to those weaned at 70 days of age. Therefore it is possible to obtain approximately the same growth in live weight and carcass in lambs weaned at 25 and 70 days of age. The lambs weaned at 25 kg live weight had higher weight of internal organs than the lambs weaned at 70 days, but the difference was significant (P<0.05) only for lung liver, small intestine, thick intestine and rumen. The length and thickness of rumen papillae were higher in lambs weaned at 25 days of age compared to the lambs weaned at 70 days of age (P<0.05). Significantly thicker was the rumen wall in the lambs weaned at 25 days of age compared to the weaned at 70 days (P<0.05).