Carcass and meat quality of ram and ewe lambs

Abstract

Carcass composition and quality and eating quality of the m. longissimus dorsi (LD) were compared in 15 entire male (ram) and 15 female (ewe) pure bred Dorset Down lambs (carcass weight range 12 to 23 kg).Rams grew 28 g/day faster than ewes, taking on average 2 weeks less to achieve 35 kg live weight. At the mean carcass weight of 16-8 kg, ram carcasses contained more lean (42 g/kg carcass weight) and bone (19 g/kg) and less fat (subcutaneous, 33 g/kg; intermuscular, 28 g/kg; perirenal-retroperitoneal, 14 g/kg) than ewe carcasses.At the same level of fat cover in the commercially prepared side, ewe carcasses required more trimming of subcutaneous fat than rams. However, there was more intermuscular fat (which is not removed by conventional cutting) in the ewes; consequently their saleable meat contained 51 g/kg more fat and 37 g/kg less lean than that from rams.The roast LD was invariably tender and the eating quality of LD from rams was as desirable as that from ewes, while overall eating quality compared favourably with that of animals studied previously. There was no evidence of an undesirable sexual odour or flavour in ram meat.With early maturing breeds, which can be finished off grass, non-castration of entire males offers the opportunity of improving the efficiency of lean meat production whilst retaining good carcass and eating quality.

Lamb meat quality of two breeds with protected origin designation. Influence of breed, sex and live weight

“…The heavy carcasses had more flavour intensity than the light ones. This has also been reported by Crouse, Busboom, Field, and Ferrel (1981); Butler-Hogg et al (1984) and Jeremiah et al (1998). However Sañ udo et al (1996, working with lambs of the Aragonesa breed designated as ''Ternasco de Aragó n'', which was the first Spanish fresh meat with denomination of origin did not find effects of slaughter weight on flavour.…”

“…Lamb meat quality is influenced by several factors, such as breed (Fisher et al, 1999;Fogarty, Hopkins, & Vande Ven, 2000;Hoffman et al, 2003;Purchas et al, 2002;Safari et al, 2001;Sañ udo et al, 1997;Santos Silva, Mendes, & Bessa, 2002) slaughter weight (Jeremiah, Tong, & Gibson, 1998;Purchas et al, 2002;Sañu-do, Santolaria, María, Osorio, & Sierra, 1996) and sex (Butler-Hogg, Francombe, & Dransfield, 1984;Dransfield, Nute, Hogg, & Walters, 1990). Nevertheless other factors could influence meat quality such as pre-slaughter stress, carcass cooling rate and ageing regimen.…”

Post-weaning growth performance, carcass characteristics and preliminary heritability estimates for some carcass traits of two types of Sudan Desert sheep on intensive feeding

“…The results in Table 2 indicate that Shugor lambs grew faster and had better feed conversion ratio than Watish lambs and that males were superior and had better feed conversion ratio than females. Similar findings of superiority of males were reported by Fourie, Kirton & Jurry (1970), Lohse (1973), and Butler-Hogg, Francombe & Dransfield (1984). The higher rate of gain in the Shugor was associated with better efficiency of feed conversion which means that Shugor lambs can reach a higher slaughter weight, with less feed per unit gain, than Watish when put for the same period on a good finishing ration, hence yielding extra profit.…”

Carcass and meat quality in light lambs from different fat classes in the EU carcass classification system

“…However, Solomon, Kemp, Moody, Ely and Fox (1980) and Butler-Hogg et al (1984) reported signi®cant¯avour dierences between carcass weight classes, possibly because the heavier carcasses had a greater fat content.…”