Use of lucerne hay in ruminant feeds to improve animal productivity, meat nutritional value and meat preservation under a more variable climate

This study investigated the effect of low energy (LE) and high energy (HE) diets fed to Crossbred and Merino sheep on carcass weight, meat nutritional value (essential fatty acids) and preservative (shelf life) aspects. Animals were slaughtered after seven weeks of feeding and the longissimus lumborum (LL) and rectus femoris (RF) muscles collected for measurement of fatty acid concentration and retail colour. Liveweight and carcass weight at slaughter were not affected by dietary treatments. Adding lucerne hay as an ingredient to LE diet increased (P < .001) omega-3 fatty acids concentrations and lowered (P < .001) the omega-6: omega-3 ratio in meat. The redness of meat for LL and RF muscles at simulated retail display was higher (P < .05) for lambs fed LE than lambs fed HE diet. Results indicate that adding lucerne hay as an ingredient in ruminant diets has potential for maintaining liveweight (wellbeing) of animals as well as nutritional value and preservative aspects of meat.