Forty-eight hair crossbred Santa Inês lambs (24 males and 24 females) grazing Brachiaria humidicola grass and creep fed until weaning were assigned to a completely randomized design with a 6 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments; six weaning ages: 56, 70, 84, 98, 126, and 140 days and two genders: male and female. Animals that were weaned from 56 to 98 days of age were feedlot fed until slaughter (126 days) while those weaned at 126 and 140 days were slaughtered at weaning. A significant weaning age x gender interaction was observed for total weight gain from birth to slaughter (TWG), daily weight gain from birth to slaughter (DWG), and hot carcass yield (HCY); males weaned at 84 days old had greater TWG and DWG than females while females weaned at 70 days old showed higher HCY than males weaned at the same age. Both TWG and DWG decreased linearly with weaning age while a significant quadratic effect was found for HCY. Ewes showed greater HCY than wethers in this trial. Total weight gain from birth to slaughter, DWG, and HCY averaged, respectively 16.49 kg, 128.72 g, and 40.10%.
Brachiaria; carcass; forage; weaning
