Abstract
32 Western Sudan Baggara bull calves, 45-80 weeks old and weighing 62.8 ± 10.5 kg. were divided into two similar groups for weight and age and assigned at random to treatment A or B. Animals on treatment A were offered feed at the rate of 3.5 kg 100 kg-1 body weight and those of treatment B received 65% of this. Within each treatment the four heaviest animals were slaughtered after 18 weeks in feedlot, the four second heaviest at the beginning of the trial, the third heaviest after 11 weeks and the four lightest after 32 weeks in feedlot. Feedlot and carcass data were collected and subjected to variance and covariance analyses. Slaughter data were transformed to common logarithms before analysis. Animals of treatment A in each slaughter group were heavier and made faster gains than animals of treatment B, but the efficiency of feed conversion was not affected by the treatment, nor did it affect growth patterns of the carcass and non-carcass components of the body. At equal adjusted empty body weights treatment A tended to yield heavier carcasses and more mesenteric fat than treatment B, but other body components were reasonably similar in both treatments. Carcass yield in Western Sudan Baggara cattle compares favourably with Hereford and Hereford X Friesian steers.
