Abstract
Growing Najdi lambs were randomly selected from lambs weaned at 30, 45, and 60 days old which were treated with 3 doses of direct-fed microbial (DFM) at 5, 10, and 15 days old to investigate the carryover effect of early weaning and DFM supplementation on their growth performance and carcass characteristics. Ten lambs from each group were transferred to individual pens for a feeding trial using the total mixed ration (Wafi). Lambs treated with DFM and weaned at 60 days old showed numerically higher body weight and average daily gains compared to other groups. Concerning the carcass and meat quality, there were significant differences between all groups in all carcass and tissue measurements, except for the back-fat and body wall thickness. In conclusion, treatment did not have any significant negative effect on body weight, feed intake, and conversion ratio compared with the control, but positively affected Zn and Cu absorption. DFM also played an important role in fat metabolism, which affects fat deposits in carcasses. The most important finding was that early weaning can be performed using DFM supplementation without any negative effect on the lambs’ performance during growth.