Prediction of Carcass Traits of Hair Sheep Lambs Using Body Measurements

The present study was designed to evaluate the relationship between the body measurements (BMs) and carcass characteristics of hair sheep lambs. Twenty hours before slaughter, the shrunk body weight (SBW) and BMs were recorded. The BMs involved were height at withers (HW), rib depth (RD), body diago...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Emmanuel Bautista-Díaz, Jesús Alberto Mezo-Solis, José Herrera-Camacho, Aldenamar Cruz-Hernández, Armando Gomez-Vazquez, Luis Orlindo Tedeschi, Héctor Aarón Lee-Rangel, Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez, Alfonso Juventino Chay-Canul
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
Series:Animals
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/8/1276
Description
Summary:The present study was designed to evaluate the relationship between the body measurements (BMs) and carcass characteristics of hair sheep lambs. Twenty hours before slaughter, the shrunk body weight (SBW) and BMs were recorded. The BMs involved were height at withers (HW), rib depth (RD), body diagonal length (BDL), body length (BL), pelvic girdle length (PGL), rump depth (RuD), rump height (RH), pin-bone width (PBW), hook-bone width (HBW), abdomen width (AW), girth (GC), and abdomen circumference (AC). After slaughter, the carcasses were weighed and chilled for 24 h at 1 °C, and then were split by the dorsal midline. The left-half was dissected into total soft tissues (muscle + fat; TST) and bone (BON), which were weighed separately. The weights of viscera and organs (VIS), internal fat (IF), and offals (OFF—skin, head, feet, tail, and blood) were also recorded. The equations obtained for predicting SBW, HCW, and CCW had an <i>r</i><sup>2</sup> ranging from 0.89 to 0.99, and those for predicting the TST and BON had an <i>r</i><sup>2</sup> ranging from 0.74 to 0.91, demonstrating satisfactory accuracy. Our results indicated that use of BMs could accurately and precisely be used as a useful tool for predicting carcass characteristics of hair sheep lambs.
ISSN:2076-2615