Carcass characteristics and meat quality of commercial lambs reared in different forage systems

•Wethers had greater eye muscle and intramuscular fat percentage than cryptorchids.•Wethers had heavier carcasses and greater intramuscular fat than ewes in farm C.•Chicory-fed lambs had heavier carcasses and greater intramuscular fat than pasture.•Lambs slaughtered at weaning than later in the seas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Livestock science 2020-02, Vol.232, p.103908, Article 103908
Main Authors: Ye, Y., Schreurs, N.M., Johnson, P.L., Corner-Thomas, R.A., Agnew, M.P., Silcock, P., Eyres, G.T., Maclennan, G., Realini, C.E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carcass
Diet
Lamb
Meat quality
Sex
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Summary:•Wethers had greater eye muscle and intramuscular fat percentage than cryptorchids.•Wethers had heavier carcasses and greater intramuscular fat than ewes in farm C.•Chicory-fed lambs had heavier carcasses and greater intramuscular fat than pasture.•Lambs slaughtered at weaning than later in the season had greater loin shear force.•Sex, castration status, diet and age at slaughter had minor effects on meat quality. Carcass attributes and meat quality characteristics of the Longissimus thoracis muscle were evaluated from 135 lambs from 9 commercial forage production systems (n = 15) on 3 farms. Wethers had greater eye muscle area and loin intramuscular fat percentage than cryptorchid lambs (P 
ISSN:1871-1413
1878-0490
DOI:10.1016/j.livsci.2019.103908