Authors : M.H.D. Mareko , A.A. Aganga , U.J. Omphile and M. Mokhudu
Abstract: Twenty five Tswana goats of 7 months of age were obtained from Botswana College of Agriculture farm. The goats were balanced out for weight (average weight; 20.1±0.1 kg) and sex (3 females and 2 males per set) and were randomly allocated to the treatments. They were individually housed and fed browses (Teminalia sericea and Boscia albitrunca) for 63 days, at two levels; high (800 g) and low (400 g), resulting in the following treatments; TS 800, TS 400, BA 800 and BA 400. The control group (C 800) was instead supplemented with lurcene at 800g daily. Grass hay (Cenchrus celiaris) and wheat bran were offered as a basal diet and as an energy source, respectively, to all the treatments. On day 63, feed was withdrawn overnight and the goats were transported to the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) on the 64th day. Goats were processed according to the standard abattoir procedures and their carcasses were cut up into 5 primal cuts (rib, chuckblade, flank, leg and neck), which were thereafter weighed. Lean tissue, free from visible fat, was obtained from the right thigh part of the leg for chemical analyses. Dry Matter (DM), moisture, ash, Organic Matter (OM), Crude Protein (CP) and crude fat was done on the lean tissue. The data were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Duncan�s multiple range tests were used to separate means. Final live weights ranged from 24.2 to 27.8kg, with C800 having significantly higher weights compared to all treatment groups. Dressing percentage ranged from 45.9 to 51.2% and TS400 had higher value (p<0.05) compared to BA400. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in primal cuts weights between the treatments. Meat moisture content showed a significant difference (p<0.05) between BA400 goats and other treatments. However when BA400 was compared with C800, no difference (p>0.05) was observed (77.94 vs 76.04%, respectively). Meat ash content for BA800 was found to be higher (p<0.05) than that of other treatments but similar (p>0.05) to that of C800. Meat dry matter, organic matter, crude protein and crude fat averaged 24.00, 97.77, 71.06 and 6.90%, respectively, without any significant differences (p>0.05) observed between the groups. Meat mineral contents averaged 0.058, 0.133, 1.037, 0.833 and 0.224% for calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium and magnesium, respectively and again no without significant differences (p>0.05) were observed between the groups. Goats supplemented on browses performed relatively like the lurcene supplemented goats though the browses are known to contain tannins. B. albitrunca and T. sericea can be successfully used by farmers as supplements during the dry seasons to raise goats for good quality meat.
M.H.D. Mareko , A.A. Aganga , U.J. Omphile and M. Mokhudu , 2006. Carcass Characteristics and Meat Composition of Yearling Tswana Goats Fed Teminalia sericea, Boscia albitrunca Browses or Lurcene as Supplements. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 5: 964-969.