Nunes et al., 2020. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol., 264: 114471

Nunes, C. L. C.; Garcia, R.; Chizzotti, M. L.; Roseira, J. P. S.; Ribeiro, E. T.; Veloso, C. M, 2020. Performance, carcass traits and meat quality of lambs fed coffee hulls treated with calcium oxide. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of replacing corn silage by coffee hulls treated with calcium oxide (CaO) on growth performance, carcass traits and meat quality parameters of lambs. Twenty-eight crossbred, non-castrated male lambs, weaned at three months of age with average initial body weight of 20.24 ± 2.40 kg were housed in individual pens. Lambs were randomly assigned to one of the four experimental treatments, which consisted of increased feeding levels of treated coffee hulls (TCH) (0, 80, 160 and 240 g/kg on DM basis). The forage concentrate ratio was 50:50 on dry matter (DM) basis and the diets were formulated to supply nutrient requirements of growing lambs with average daily gain (ADG) of 200 g. After 66 days of experimental period, lambs were slaughtered for further carcass traits and meat quality evaluations. As results, increased feeding levels of TCH in the diets led to a quadratic effect on intake of DM and its components (P < 0.05). Anim. Feed Sci. Technol., 264: 114471