Replacement of corn silage with spineless cactus in sheep diet: carcass and meat sensory characteristics

ABSTRACT. This study evaluated the effect of replacing corn silage with spineless cactus, in combination with Tifton 85 hay or sugarcane bagasse, on the carcass measurements and sensory properties of the meat of lambs finished in feedlot. Twenty-one, intact, Santa Inês males, with an initial body weight of 22.86 ± 2.87 kg and an average age of 150 days, were individually confined for 74 days and fed at will three treatments diets: Corn silage (CS); Spineless cactus + Tifton 85 hay (CT) and Spineless cactus + sugarcane bagasse (CB). Lambs fed CT had a wider croup (p 0.05) the body length, withers height or chest circumference of the lambs. Values of carcass length and compactness index were similar (p > 0.05) between treatments. There was a high and positive correlation (p