title: Performance and carcass characteristics of Australian purebred and crossbred lambs supplemented with Rice Bran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examined the effects of dietary supplementation with rice bran, sire breed and gender on live animal performance and carcass characteristics in Australian crossbred and purebred Merino lambs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-eight lambs balanced by sire breed (Dorset, White Suffolk, Merino) and gender (ewe, wether) were randomly allocated into three dietary supplementation groups (Control- 24 lambs fed wheat/barley-based pellets, Low- 12 animals fed a 50/50 ratio of wheat-based/rice bran pellets, and High- 12 lambs fed rice bran pellets). The Rice bran pellets replaced 19 % of the barley component of the feed. Animals were group-fed at the rate of 1000 g of the supplement per head per day with ad libitum access to lucerne hay as the basal diet and water. The duration of the feeding trial was 49 days with an initial 21-day adjustment period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sire breed differences were evident for initial (p < 0.0002) and final (p < 0.0016) liveweights, hot carcass (p < 0.0030) and cold carcass (p < 0.0031) weights, as well as dressing percentage (p < 0.0078), fat thickness (p < 0.0467), yield grade (p < 0.0470) and rib eye area (p < 0.0022) with purebred Merino under-performing compared to the crossbreds. Concentrate feed conversion efficiency, costs per unit of liveweight gain and over the hooks income were comparable between treatments regardless of the observed trend where the high supplementation group tended to show lower feed intake (745.8 g/day) compared to both the control (939.9 g/day) and low supplementation groups (909.6 g/day). No significant differences (p > 0.05) were observed between treatments for live animal performance, carcass characteristics, gender and their second-order interactions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicate that Rice bran can be utilised as a cost-effective supplementary feed source in genetically divergent sheep over a 49-day feeding period without detrimental effects on overall live animal performance or carcass characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Animal Science and Genetics, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, School of Land and Food, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 54 Sandy Bay, Hobart, TAS 7001 Australia.
authors.forename: Aaron Ross
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Flakemore
authors.affiliation: Animal Science and Genetics, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, School of Land and Food, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 54 Sandy Bay, Hobart, TAS 7001 Australia.
authors.forename: John Roger
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.affiliation: Animal Science and Genetics, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, School of Land and Food, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 54 Sandy Bay, Hobart, TAS 7001 Australia ; Institut National Supérieur des Sciences Agronomiques de l'alimentation et de l'environnmente (AGROSUP), 26 Bd du Docteur Petitjean, BP 87 999, 21079 Dijon Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Bénédicte
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Suybeng
authors.affiliation: CopRice Feeds, PO Box 104, Cobden, VIC 3266 Australia.
authors.forename: Razaq Oladimeji
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Balogun
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine and Dentistry, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811 Australia.
authors.forename: Bunmi Sherifat
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Malau-Aduli
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Food and Nutrition, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagships, Hobart, TAS 7001 Australia.
authors.forename: Peter David
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.affiliation: Animal Science and Genetics, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, School of Land and Food, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 54 Sandy Bay, Hobart, TAS 7001 Australia ; Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811 Australia.
authors.forename: Aduli Enoch Othniel
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Malau-Aduli