Small Ruminant Research 82 (2009) 13–17 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Small Ruminant Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/smallrumres Effects of feeding sesame meal on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics of Awassi lambs B.S. Obeidat a,∗ , A.Y. Abdullah a , K.Z. Mahmoud a , M.S. Awawdeh b , N.Z. Al-beitawi a , F.A. Al-Lataifeh a a Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan b Department of Pathology and Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan article info Article history: Received 18 September 2008 Received in revised form 17 December 2008 Accepted 6 January 2009 Available online 3 February 2009 Keywords: Awassi lambs Sesame meal Growth Digestibility Carcass characteristics abstract Nutrient intake, diet digestibility, N balance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality were evaluated in Awassi lambs fed different levels of sesame meal (SM). Twenty-seven Awassi lambs of similar weight (BW = 18.8 ± 0.74 kg) and age (65 ± 1.09 days) were equally divided into three treatments and fed individually high concentrate diets for 60 days. Group one served as a control and did not receive SM (SM0). Group two (SM8) and three (SM16) received 8 and 16% SM, respectively. Intakes of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), and crude protein (CP) were highest (P < 0.05) for the lambs fed the SM8 followed by the SM0 and SM16 diets, respectively. Whereas, intake of ether extracts (EE) was greater for SM16 followed by the SM8 and SM0. Intake of metabolizable energy (ME) was greater (P < 0.05) for SM8 than SM0 and SM16 treatments. Final weight and average daily gain (ADG) were greater (P < 0.05) for SM8 than for both the SM0 and SM16 diets. All groups had similar feed conversion ratio; nevertheless production cost was lower (P < 0.05) for SM8 and SM16 com- pared to SM0 diet. Digestibility of DM, OM, CP, and EE and N retention were similar among all treatment diets. Fasting live weight was greater (P < 0.05) for lambs fed SM8 diet than for lambs fed SM0 and SM16 diets. Dressing percentage was greater (P < 0.05) for SM0 diet when compared to SM8 and SM16 diets. Lungs and trachea weights were higher (P < 0.05) in lambs fed SM8 diet than SM0 and SM16 diets. Loin weight was greater (P < 0.05) in lambs fed SM8 diet compared to SM0 and SM16 diets. Lambs receiving the SM8 and SM16 diets had greater (P <0.05) total percentage in loin than the SM0 diet. No differences were observed in carcass and longissimus muscle linear dimensions, fat measurements, and meat quality characteristics among the treatment diets. It is concluded that sesame meal could replace 8% of soybean meal in the diet without any detrimental effect on lamb growth and meat quality, thus reduces feeding cost. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Growing Awassi lambs has been one of the most prof- itable sectors of raising sheep in Jordan. The increase in feed prices and the scarcity of grains and protein plant ∗ Corresponding author at: Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 3030, Irbid 22110, Jordan. Tel.: +962 2 7201000x22214; fax: +962 2 7201078. E-mail address: bobeidat@just.edu.jo (B.S. Obeidat). supplements are important constrains hampering sheep production sector in Jordan and in many other countries. Consequently, red meat prices have increased more than 40% and thus the profit margin stagnated for most pro- ducers. However, the total return from growing Awassi lambs has declined dramatically since the high prices of red meat scaled down the consumer demand. Therefore, keeping the production cost down is the main objective of farmers to maximize their net revenue. The agro-industrial by-products, such as sesame meal (SM), can have a major influence on reducing the production cost. 0921-4488/$ – see front matter © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.smallrumres.2009.01.002