The objective of this work was to establish the influence of breeding ram and feeding on performance of lambs in confinement. The experimental design was completely randomized, in a 2x4 factorial arrangement. The treatments were two genetic groups (Santa Inês x not defined breed (NDB) and Somalis x NDB) and concentrate (corn, soybean meal plus mineral salt) at 15%, 30%, 45% and 60%. Thirty two animals were confined in individual stalls and each was one repetition. The diets were composed by concentrate and roughage, leucaena hay (Leucaena leucocephala), as a complete ration. The slaughter weight increased and the feed efficiency improved (P<0.05) as concentrate in diet was increased. A quadratic effect on dry matter intake and organic matter intake with maximum values of 35.29% and 35.36%, respectively, was observed. All estimated gross margin were positive. There was no difference (P>0.05) among concentrates; however, the genetic group Somalis x NDB was superior (P<0.05) to Santa Inês x NDB.
Leucaena leucocephala; hay; feed intake; feed conversion efficiency; weight gain; sheep
