Prediction of Carcass Traits of Hair Sheep Lambs Using Body Measurements
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
Affiliations
Emmanuel Bautista-Díaz
División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Villahermosa-Teapa Km 25, Villahermosa 86280, Tabasco, Mexico
Jesús Alberto Mezo-Solis
División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Villahermosa-Teapa Km 25, Villahermosa 86280, Tabasco, Mexico
José Herrera-Camacho
Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias y Forestales, Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Carretera Morelia-Zinapécuaro Km 9.5, El Trébol, Tarímbaro 58893, Michoacán, Mexico
Aldenamar Cruz-Hernández
División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Villahermosa-Teapa Km 25, Villahermosa 86280, Tabasco, Mexico
Armando Gomez-Vazquez
División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Villahermosa-Teapa Km 25, Villahermosa 86280, Tabasco, Mexico
Luis Orlindo Tedeschi
Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2471, USA
Héctor Aarón Lee-Rangel
Facultad de Agronomía y Veterinaria, Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí 78000, S.L.P., Mexico
Einar Vargas-Bello-Pérez
Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Grønnegårdsvej 3, DK-1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Alfonso Juventino Chay-Canul
División Académica de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco, Carretera Villahermosa-Teapa Km 25, Villahermosa 86280, Tabasco, Mexico
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 r2 ranging from 0.89 to 0.99, and those for predicting the TST and BON had an r2 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.
