Abstract
Fourty awassi lambs were used in this experiment, which was divided into 5 groups each of 8 lambs, with average body weight ranged between ( 31.13- 31.79 Kg). The first group (T1) was fed ( ad- libitum) on ration consisted mainly of barely, wheat barn and soyabean meal. Dry matter intake was restricted by 10% and 20% of ad- libitum feeding in the second (T2) and third (T3) groups. While dry matter and energy intake were restricted by 10% or 20% of ad-libitum in the fourth (T4) and fifth (T5) groups respectively. All groups of lambs were fed for 85 days. At the end of the experiment all the lambs were slaughtered. Results indicated that there were no significant differences between treatments in final body weight ( 45.14- 49.59 Kg), total body weight again ( 13.36- 17.81 Kg) and average daily gain ( 0.175- 0.210 Kg). The results also indicated that the average coefficient of feed conversion was 9.02, 6.92, 7.24, 8.45 and 8.26 Kg/kg of feed respectively for all groups. No significant differences were noted in hot and cool carcass weight , dressing percentage, rib-eye area and fat thickness. Results of physical dissection showed no significant difference between treatment in the meat, fat and bone percentage of the three ribs area (9- 10- 11). Also, results of chemical analysis of meat showed that the treatment had no significant effect on moisture, fat, protein and ash percentage
