COMPOSIÇÃO TECIDUAL DA CARCAÇA DE CORDEIROS SUBMETIDOS A DIETA DE ALTO GRÃO

The present experiment, conducted at the Sheep Breeding Laboratory of the Federal University of Santa Maria, aimed to evaluate the effect of high – grain diets on the carcass composition of lambs fed in feedlot. Thirty-two male lambs, castrated, of the Texel breed, were weaned at approximately 50 days of age. The treatments were constituted by different types of grains, unprocessed, being: corn grain, white oat grain, black oat grain or rice grain with bark. The animals were slaughtered when they reached the pre-established slaughter live weight of 32 kg. The lambs of the different treatments presented similarity regarding the proportion of muscle. However, corn-based treatment lambs presented lower percentage of bone and higher amount of fat. The confinement of labs, with the use of high levels of concentrate, is a practice has been increasingly used, aiming to obtain quality carcasses.