Measurement on slaughter weight, side weight, carcass joints and their association with carcass composition of two types of Sudan Desert sheep

Abstract

SummaryRelationships between slaughter weight, side weight, linear carcass measurements, carcass joints, carcass composition, and prediction equations for carcass composition have been established for Sudan Desert lambs.Of the carcass linear measurements, chest depth had the highest coefficient of correlation with slaughter weight (r = 0·62) and side weight (r = 0·64) followed by the circumference of the buttocks with correlation coefficients of 0·49 and 0·63 respectively.Correlation coefficients between percentage tissue in the side and percentage tissue in the different joints showed that percentage lean in middle neck and shoulder, leg and best end, in this order were strongly associated with percentage lean in side (P < 0·001). Percentage bone in middle neck and shoulder, leg and loin was positively associated with percentage bone in the side. Fat in leg and best end neck gave a significant correlation (P < 0·001) with percentage fat in the side.Trivariate regression equations for prediction of carcass composition were calculated for both sexes in the two breed types and the best end neck joint was found to be the best practical predictor with R2a (adjusted coefficient of determination) of 0·81–0·98 for lean prediction and 0·70–0·92 for fat prediction.