Replacement of corn meal by corn germ meal in lamb diets

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of replacing corn meal by corn germ meal on nutrient digestibility in the diet, and on the performance and carcass characteristics of Santa Inês lambs. Forty animals, with 17,0±2.5 kg average initial live weight, were housed in individual pens in a randomized block design with five treatments and eight replicates. The replacing rates were 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100%. Hot carcass weight, full and empty digestive tract weight, ribeye area, fat thickness, and yield of commercial cuts were obtained at slaughter. Corn meal replacement by corn germ meal linearly reduced the dry matter intake and the coefficients of apparent digestibility of: dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and ether extract. Feed conversion was not affected by the treatments. Average daily gain, final live weight, loin eye area, fat thickness, and yields of hot carcass and retail cuts decreased linearly with the increasing replacement levels. Replacing corn meal by corn germ meal, in lamb diets, negatively affects the performance and carcass characteristics of the animals.