Relationship of Linear Measurements and Certain Carcass Characteristics to Retail Value, Quality and Tenderness of Ewe, Wether and Ram Lambs

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Abstract
Ninety-nine lambs, representing seven breeds and crosses and three sexes within these breeds, were subjected to 18 live measurements. Ten additional carcass measurements were taken before separating the carcasses into retail cuts. Simple correlations were determined between each measurement and carcass value, percent retail cuts and tenderness. Carcass measurements were generally found to be more closely related to these variables than were the live measurements. Least squares analyses and multiple regression analyses were computed to determine differences due to breed and sex after adjusting for weight and for formulating prediction equations from practical combinations of these measurements. After adjusting for breed and sex differences, carcass measurements of length of body, circumference of thigh, fat thickness and width of shoulders accounted for more variation in percentage of primal cuts than combinations of other variables. Although significant relationships existed between carcass measurements and retail value, no combination of measurements accounted for as much as 30% of the variability in value. Slaughter age was positively and significantly associated with shear values, with the older animals providing less tender chops. Copyright © 1967. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1967 by American Society of Animal Science

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