Table 3.
Characteristics and yields of carcass and hindquarter cuts of young bulls undergoing early weaning (150 days) or conventional weaning (240 days).
| Item | Weaning | SEM | p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early | Conventional | |||
| Carcass characteristics | ||||
| Hot carcass weight, kg | 323 | 347 | 10.56 | <0.001 |
| Dressing percentage, % | 56.7 | 57.0 | 0.46 | 0.447 |
| Ribeye area, cm2 | 83.2 | 82.5 | 1.33 | 0.686 |
| Subcutaneous fat thickness, mm | 4.0 | 4.0 | 0.33 | 0.999 |
| Renal, pelvic, and inguinal fat, kg | 12.1 | 11.4 | 0.39 | 0.233 |
| Renal, pelvic, and inguinal fat, % 1 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 0.12 | 0.008 |
| pH and temperature | ||||
| pH1h | 6.9 | 6.9 | 0.02 | 0.489 |
| pH24h | 5.6 | 5.6 | 0.03 | 0.586 |
| Temperature1h | 39.6 | 39.3 | 0.38 | 0.202 |
| Temperature24h | 6.34 | 6.21 | 0.52 | 0.359 |
| Primal cuts weight, kg | ||||
| Forequarter | 60.8 | 65.7 | 1.27 | <0.001 |
| Thin Flank | 22.2 | 23.6 | 0.95 | <0.001 |
| Hindquarter | 74.3 | 79.0 | 1.34 | <0.001 |
| Primal cuts yield, % 2 | ||||
| Forequarter | 38.3 | 38.6 | 0.34 | 0.284 |
| Thin Flank | 14.4 | 14.3 | 0.50 | 0.533 |
| Hindquarter | 47.4 | 47.1 | 0.30 | 0.410 |
| Hindquarter tissues, kg | ||||
| Retail cuts | 51.8 | 55.3 | 1.05 | <0.001 |
| Bones | 13.8 | 14.7 | 0.46 | <0.001 |
| Trimmings | 5.2 | 5.1 | 0.22 | 0.763 |
| Hindquarter tissues 3 | ||||
| Retail cuts | 68.8 | 69.0 | 0.36 | 0.654 |
| Bones | 18.6 | 18.7 | 0.24 | 0.724 |
| Trimming | 6.9 | 6.4 | 0.21 | 0.055 |
1 HCW: Percentage of renal, pelvic, and inguinal fat in relation to carcass weight; 2 Percentage of primal cuts in relation to the weight of the left half carcass; 3 Percentage of tissues in relation to hindquarter weight.