Growth Performance of Ouled Djellal Male Lambs at Semi-Arid Region of Setif/Algeria

Abstract

Herd sheep is the leading supplier of red meat in Algeria, which places fattening lambs the animal speculation of choice. Despite the extent of this practice and its importance in the national economy, few studies have been devoted to characterizing it. Precisely, the aim of the present work is to study the growth performance Ouled Djellal lambs male in the fattening phase at semi-arid region of Serif. A set of 43 weaned lambs aged 7 months and over are monitored and weighed regularly every ten days for two months. The animals are fed with a commercial concentrate, wheat straw and water ad-libitum. The results obtained on the male lambs growth remain acceptable. Thus, the initial average live weight is 33±1.48 kg and the final average live weight is 43±1.44 kg, which gives us an average daily gain (ADG) of 165±45 g/d. This reveals the growth potential of Ouled Djellal lambs and its preferred choice by breeders-fatteners. While remembering that the majority of lambs were grass-fed before fattening period. There is therefore poor exploitation growth potential of these lambs, food deficits and poor management breeding are probably the cause.