Effects of level of barley and corn in concentrate-fed Boer kids on growth performance, meat quality and muscle fatty acid composition

This experiment was conducted to compare the impact of corn and barley on growth performance, meat quality, and muscle fatty acid (FA) composition of goat kids. Twenty-four Boer males (25.1 ± 1.5 kg) were blocked by body weight and allotted randomly within block to one of three experimental diets. Treatments consisted in varying ratios of barley to corn in the concentrate: (1) 100:0, (2) 50:50, and (3) 0:100. Fifteen randomly selected kids (n = 5 kids per treatment) were slaughtered and longissimus thoracis et lumborum was collected. Inclusion of barley in the diet linearly increased concentrate intake (P