The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and the gross margin of profit of lambs finished in feedlot. Thirty-two no castrate male lambs from the genotype Santa Inês and crossbred Dorper × Santa Inês and two body condition, intermediate and fat, were used. The lambs were 16 Santa Inês (SI) and 16 ½ Dorper × ½ Santa Inês (DpSI), with average 103 days old and 20.0 kg BW. The lambs were full fed ration with 30% of maniçoba hay (Manihot pseudoglaziovii) and 70% of concentrate. The adaptation period to the installation and the diet was of 14 days. A completely randomized design in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement (genotype and body conditions score) was used. There was no significant effect of genotypes on any performance characteristic, however, the crossbred (DpSI) obtained greater margin of profit. The body condition affected the dry matter intake, feed conversion and the number of days in feedlot. The lambs with intermediate body condition consumed 1.04 kg/day and 82.64 g/kg0.75, while those with fat body condition consumed 1.15 kg/day and 86.79 g/kg0.75. The lambs with intermediate body condition showed lower dry matter intake and better feed conversion, which resulted in fewer days in feedlot and greater gross margin of profit compared to lambs with fat body condition, independently of the genotype.
body score; crossbred; Dorper; feeding efficiency; intake; Santa Inês
