Research progress on the regulation of pasture fattening and stall fattening on production performance and meat quality of fattening sheep

With the increasing demand for mutton in China, conventional grazing feeding methods are not enough to meet the production demand. The whole house feeding method maximizes mutton output, although it easily deteriorates mutton quality. The results showed that feeding patterns greatly affect growth performance, ruminal development, and meat quality in meat sheep; thus, feeding patterns play a key role in guiding lamb production. This paper summarizes the effects of house feeding, grazing, and their combined feeding systems on growth performance, tissue development, fermentation parameters and microflora of the rumen, edible quality, nutritional routine, and the fatty acid contents of the longissimus dorsi. Finally, the study targeted practical techniques and theoretical guidelines to improve the growth performance and meat quality of mutton sheep in China.