Performance and carcass quality in three genetic groups of sheep in Brazil

Revista Brasileira de Zootecnia

Louvandini, Helder³  Landim, Aline Vieira²  McManus, Concepta¹  Cardoso, Maximiliano Tadeu Memória¹ 

[1] Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, Brasil;Universidade Estadual Vale do Acaraú, Sobral, Brasil;Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura, Piracicaba, Brasil

关键词: creep feeding;    cross-breeding;    fattening;    lambs    Introduction Commercial sheep production for meat in Brazil is still in the early stages of development;    with live weight determining slaughter age;   

DOI  :  10.1590/S1516-35982013001000007

学科分类：兽医学

来源: Universidade Federal de Vicosa

【 摘 要 】

Three different genetic groups were evaluated for growth up to slaughter and carcass quality for kill out, commercial cuts, non-carcass components, as well as carcass morphometric measurements. Pure Santa Ines (SI), ½ Ile de France × Â½ Santa Ines (I × SI) and ½ Texel × Â½ Santa Ines (T × SI) lambs were weighed weekly until they reached predetermined slaughter weight (30, 35, 40 and 45 kg). In both creep feeding and fattening the animals from crosses were superior to the Santa Ines hair sheep in terms of daily weight gain and weaned in less time. Crossbred animals also showed better performance than purebred Santa Ines in terms of commercial cuts and carcass weights. Correlations showed that fat depth and eye muscle area decreased with an increase in morphometric measures, indicating that larger animals are possibly later developing in terms of carcass finishing compared with smaller animals. The optimal slaughter weight is approximately 35 kg.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC