A study was conducted to determine the effect of egg weight on hatchability, chick hatch-weight, mortality and subsequent productivity of indigenous Venda chickens. Three hundred and sixty indigenous Venda chicken eggs were collected for a period of a week and…
A study was conducted to determine dietary energy levels for optimum productivity and carcass characteristics of indigenous Venda chickens raised in closed confinement. Four dietary treatments were considered in the first phase (1 to 7 weeks) on two hundred day-old…
A study was conducted to investigate the influence of an ionophore antibiotic and lipid saturation within a standard finishing diet on the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) content of lambs’ meat. Two identical sheep grower diets containing 145 g CP, 282…
Rumen protected amino acids (RPAA) are increasingly being used in dairy cattle diet formulation to obtain the required concentrations of lysine and methionine in metabolisable protein for optimal milk and milk protein production. The objective of this study was to…
Estimation of indigestible neutral detergent fibre (iNDF) is necessary for accurate and precise predictions of feed energy values and potential microbial protein from digested NDF in the rumen. Due to lengthy laboratory procedures, iNDF has been estimated using the formula…
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of Kosher (Shechita) and conventional slaughter methods on shear force, drip and cooking losses of beef (m. longissimus dorsi samples) from South African feedlot cattle. Results revealed significantly lower shear…
Selection for residual feed intake (RFI) as a trait to improve production efficiency was proposed as early as 1963. A low RFI value indicates a more efficient animal and heritability estimates of between 0.28 and 0.58 have been reported for…
Eating-quality attributes of meat from Ankole cattle and their Friesian and Boran crossbreds finished in different feeding systems were evaluated. Seventy two 8-month-old bulls (24 each of pure Ankole (A), Ankole x Boran (B) and Ankole x Friesian (F) (191…
A study was conducted to determine whether silage can be used as an ingredient in the finishing rations of Merino lambs. One of the concerns regarding the use of silage as the main ingredient of a sheep feed is its…
The response of Namaqua Afrikaner, Dorper and South African Mutton Merino lambs, of approximately four months of age, towards a human being situated between them and their flock mates was studied in an arena test. The objective of the study…
A study was conducted to evaluate the influence of feeding systems on carcass characteristics and composition of Mubende goats and their Boer goat crossbreds. A 2 x 3 factorial arrangement was used to randomly allocate 60 castrates, 30 purebred Mubende…
This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary fatty acid saturation on production performances of laying hens at end-of-lay. Five isoenergetic (12.6 MJ AME/kg DM) and isonitrogenous (170 g CP/kg DM) diets were formulated using different lipid sources…
A study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary lipid saturation on nutrient digestibility of layer diets. Five isoenergetic (12.6 MJ AME/kg DM) and isonitrogenous (170 g CP/kg DM) diets were formulated using different lipid sources at a constant…
Recent increases in mutton lamb prices have resulted in many lamb producers opting to finish more and more lambs on the farms in a feedlot system rather than marketing directly from the field. The aim of this trial was to…
β-adrenergic agonists are commonly used in livestock production to enhance meat production and decrease the fat content of the body. β-adrenergic agonists normally improve growth performance. Recent increases in meat prices and the change in consumer preference towards leaner meat…
