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The body composition of 3-month-old Rambouillet lambs of different live weights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

H. Epstein  and
A. Herz
H. Epstein
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
A. Herz
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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Summery

Carcass measurements were made on 24 Rambouillet lambs of different live weights but of the same age, and the lambs divided into 3 groups of 8 according to live weight. Group I, with the lowest mean live weight, had the lowest dressing percentage, relatively heaviest head and feet and lightest pelt, while group III, with the highest mean live weight, had the highest dressing percentage, the relatively lightest head and feet and the heaviest pelt of the three groups.

Group I contained the lowest percentage, and group II, of medium live weight, the highest percentage of muscle, while the relative weights of bone and fat tissue were similar. Group III contained the highest percentage of fat tissue and the lowest percentage of bone. The differences in the relative weights of the edible internal organs between the three groups were not significant.

Testis weight was relatively much greater in Group III than in the lighter animals. While dressing-out percentage increased with body weight, the increase was not equally distributed between fore and hindquarters. Hindquarters were relatively larger in group II than in group I; but the forequarters accounted for the greater part of the differences between groups II and III.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 70 , Issue 1 , February 1968 , pp. 29 - 32
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1968

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References

Epstein, H. (1958). The development of Corriedale and Rambouillet lambs on natural pasture in Israel. Bull. Res. Ooun. Israel, 7B, 3–4, 191–8.Google Scholar
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McMeekan, C. P., Campbell, I. L., Cooper, M. M., Stevens, P. G. & Ward, A. H. (1943). Principles of Animal Production. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd., Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, Invercargill, N.Z., London, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.Google Scholar