Table 2.
Slaughter weight and Carcass characteristics of three sheep breeds (n = 8/group).
| Component | Breed | Limits | SEM | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awassi | Harri | Najdi | Minimum | Maximum | ||
| SBW (kg) | 50.53a | 45.19b | 49.54a | 43.05 | 57.20 | 0.74 |
| EBW (kg) | 46.48a | 41.70b | 45.46a | 39.50 | 51.50 | 0.64 |
| HCW (kg) | 24.04a | 22.93b | 24.69a | 21.15 | 27.94 | 0.30 |
| CCW (kg) | 23.35a,b | 22.39b | 24.06a | 20.67 | 27.10 | 0.29 |
| DP (SBW) | 47.60b | 50.80a | 49.50a | 45.30 | 53.00 | 0.47 |
| DP (EBW) | 51.75b | 54.96a | 54.38a | 49.40 | 57.40 | 0.51 |
| CS% | 2.90a | 2.39b | 2.53a,b | 1.89 | 3.49 | 0.09 |
| Rib-eye area (cm2) | 7.77 | 8.94 | 8.67 | 6.07 | 11.90 | 0.30 |
| Back fat (mm) | 2.58a | 1.99a | 1.29b | 0.88 | 3.94 | 0.16 |
| Body wall fat (mm) | 3.99 | 3.53 | 4.35 | 2.01 | 6.40 | 0.22 |
a,b
Means within rows with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05).
SBW, slaughter body weight; EBW, empty body weight; DP (EBW), dressing percentage per empty body weight; DP (SBW), dressing percentage per full body weight; HCW, hot carcass weight; CCW, cold carcass weight; CS, chiller shrinkage.