The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the growth, performance and size of viscera of Santa Inês lambs after compensatory gain. Twenty-two animals, with two ranges of initial body weights, light (33.5 kg) and heavy (56.8 kg), were allotted to one of the three diets: control, fed ad libitum; nutritional restriction, fed to maintain body weight; and compensatory growth with feed restriction and then fed without restriction up to body weight similar to control animals, when they were slaughtered. The experimental diets, constituted of Coast-cross (Cynodon dactylon) grid hay, and a concentrate with soybean (Glicine max L.) meal, corn (Zea mays L.), citrus pulp, livestock urea and vitamin and mineral supplement met the nutritional requirements for each different objective. Animals in fed restriction showed the worst final body weight, dry matter intake, weight gain, feed conversion and relative liver weight whereas those in compensatory growth, the final body weight, feed conversion and liver weight were similar to the animals in continuous growth. Intake among heavy animals in continuous growth was superior to those kept in the other diets. For the group of light animals in compensatory growth, weight gain was greater than in those on continuous growth and, in those both groups, it was superior to animals on feed restriction. However, heavy animals showed body weight gain similar to control animals. Lambs can present compensatory growth, which depends on the maturity degree of the animals.
compensatory growth; feed restriction; sheep
