J. Env. Bio-Sci., 2014: Vol.

28 (2): 213-216 ISSN 0973-6913 (Print), ISSN 0976-3384 (On Line)

EFFECT OF REARING SYSTEM AND SUPPLEMENTATION ON CARCASS

CHARACTERISTICS OF MECHERI LAMBS
J. Muralidharan, V. Chandirasekaran and V. Ramesh Saravanakumar
Department of Meat Science and Technology,
Veterinary College and Research Institute,
Namakkal -637 002, Tamil Nadu.
email:v.chandirasekaran@gmail.com

Received: 01-09-2014 Accepted: 30-09-2014

A study was undertaken to assess the carcass characteristics of Mecheri ram lambs under different rearing systems
and supplementations. Main season lambs (40 animals in five groups of eight lambs each) were reared under two systems of
rearing viz., grazing (T1 -control, T2 -concentrate and T3 -urea molasses mineral block supplementation(UMMB)) and stall feeding
(T4-concentrate and T5-UMMB supplementation) for a period of 150 days and the animals from each group were slaughtered.
Corresponding to the body weights, hot carcass weights were higher for the grazing groups (T 1, T2 and T3) than the stall fed groups.
Dressing percentage based on pre slaughter weight was highest (48.01) for the T 2 group. Percentages of wholesale cuts were
similar between the groups. T2 group had highest percentage of lean (70.77) and lowest percentage of bones (26.73). Meat : bone
ratio ranged from 2.09 : 1 to 2.60 :1 and T2 had the highest value. Fabrication loss ranged between 2.05 and 4.04. It was minimum
in the T2 group and maximum in T5 group. Carcass length ranged from 59 to 65 cm with T 2 group having the highest value and T5
group having the lowest value. Loin eye area (LEA) values were in the range between 9.74 and 11.18 sq. cm. T 2 group had the
highest and T5 group had the lowest values. Carcass length and Loin eye area (LEA) values were higher for the grazing groups
compared to stall fed groups. Fat percentage was highest in T 2 group (3.43 per cent) followed by T3 (2.41 per cent) and least in T5
(2.02 per cent). Slaughter studies revealed that T 2 group was better in most of the carcass characteristics followed by T 3 group.
Stall fed animals had lower values compared to supplemented grazing groups (T 2 and T3).

The advantages for small ruminant rearing in our country are
ever increasing price and demand for mutton and chevon. Major
factors limiting the enterprise are decreasing grazing lands
and low productivity of animals. Because of these reasons,
many sheep and goat farmers are slowly shifting from traditional
type of rearing to intensive rearing or grazing with
supplementation. Mecheri breed is a drought tolerant meat
type sheep commonly found in Salem, Namakkal, Erode and
parts of Dharmapuri and Karur districts of Tamil Nadu. Most of
the sheep farmers rear their animals with very little or no
supplementation. Because of the low carcass weight and poor
muscling, the carcasses obtained from these animals are
generally below their potential. The beneficial effect of feed
supplementation on carcass quality has been documented
earlier8. In our country most of the works on these lines have
been conducted with concentrate supplementation. The work
on the effect of UMMB supplementation on the carcass quality
is limited. Hence this was taken up to study the effect of rearing
system and supplementation on the carcass characteristics
of Mecheri ram lambs.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A growth trial was conducted with 40 Mecheri ram lambs born
in main lambing season (i.e. December to February). Animals
were divided into five groups of eight animals each, distributing
them according to their body weight. Animals were in the age
group of 2 to 4 months and average body weight was 9.8 kg.
The treatment groups were as follows.
T 1 - Grazing alone
T 2 - Grazing with concentrate supplementation
T 3 - Grazing with UMMB supplementation
T 4 - Intensive rearing with concentrate supplementation
T 5 - Intensive rearing with UMMB supplementation
The experiment was conducted for five months from April 15th
to September 15th, 2008. Lambs reached marketable body
weights by that period. At the end of growing period, all animals
from each of the five groups were slaughtered. The parameters
like carcass weight, dressing percentage, bone meat ratio,
 Effect of Rearing System and Supplementation
wholesale cuts were recorded. In addition, sensory evaluation
of cooked meat, shear force value and meat cholesterol
estimations were carried out.
The loin eye area was measured with a help of parchment
paper by taking the impression of loin muscles on it and
drawing the outline by using a marker pen. Then the outline
was superimposed on a graph sheet and the area was
measured in square centimeters. Fascia was removed from
the loin and Longissmus dorsii muscle was separated from
its attachments to take samples for estimation of meat
cholesterol and shear force value. Meat cholesterol
estimation was done by subjecting the meat piece to
overnight digestion and lipid extraction5 and cholesterol level
was estimated1. Shear force value was taken by subjecting
1cm x 1cm thick cooked meat sample to Warner Bratzler
Shear and taking the average of three values.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Slaughter parameters : Means of carcass characteristics of
main season lambs are presented in Table-1. Pre-slaughter
weights of the main season Mecheri ram lambs reflected
the body weights of the animals of the corresponding groups.
Animals were selected for slaughter as far as possible closer
to their group average body weight.
Empty live weight was arrived by deducting the weight of
digestive tract contents from the pre slaughter weight.
Dressing percentage based on pre slaughter weight was
highest (48.01 per cent) for the concentrate supplemented
grazing group (T2) followed by other grazing groups (T3 and T1)
and lower values were reported for stall fed groups (T4 and T5).
Dressing percentage increased as a result of
supplementation in grazing animals13,8 though could not find
any difference by concentrate supplementation15. Lower
dressing percentage observed in stall fed groups4,18. Dressing
percentage based on empty live weight was similar between
the groups. T5 group had the highest value (58.95 per cent)
followed by grazing with supplementation groups (T2 and T3).
T4 (55.71 per cent) and T1 (55.09 per cent) groups had lower
values. This indicated that the weight of ingesta was higher
in grazing groups and comparatively lower in stall fed
groups14,2.
Percentages of wholesale cuts were similar between the
groups. Percentage of forequarters was in the range between
53.40 and 54.58 and percentage of hindquarters ranged from
(214)
45.26 to 46.60. Neck and shoulders ranged from 24.36 to 26.24
per cent and highest value was recorded for T1 group. Breast
and fore shank values ranged from 14.20 to 16.34 with the highest
value in T4 group. Rack values ranged from 12.96 to 13.48 and
T2 group had the highest value. Loin values were in the range of
12.43 to 13.22 per cent with highest value in T5 group. Highest
percentage of legs was observed in T2 group and the values
ranged from 31.34 to 32.57 per cent. Per cent of whole sale
cuts were falling within the range of average values17. In contrast,
higher yields of rack and breast and fore shank cuts were
reported10 in intensively reared animals in comparison with
animals under semi intensive system.
Lean and bone weights were corresponding to the hot carcass
weights of the animals. Lean values were in the range from 5.46
kg to 8.50 kg and bone weight ranged between 2.57 to 3.21 kg.
The lean percentage was highest for T2 group (70.77), followed
by T1 and T3 groups13,6. Stall fed groups had the lowest lean
percentage values compared to the grazing groups. Better
muscling of grazing animals in this experiment might be the
reason for this12. Lowest lean percentage (65.00) and highest
bone percentage (31.07) was recorded in T5 group. Meat : bone
ratio ranged from 2.09:1 to 2.60:1 and T2 had the highest value
(2.60:1), followed by T3, T1 groups and lower in stall fed groups
(T4 and T5). This reflects better quality of carcass obtained from
grazing groups. But, some earlier works reported higher meat
bone ratio in stall feeding19,7. Fabrication loss ranged between
2.05 and 4.04.
It was minimum in the T2 group and maximum in T5 group.
Fabrication loss was higher in T3 and T5 groups. This was not
due to the treatment effect but, because of some portions of
meat condemned in those groups due to aseptic abscess caused
by Johne's disease vaccine. Carcass length ranged from 59 to
65 cm with T2 group having the highest value and T5 group having
the lowest value. Carcass length was more in grazing groups.
This was corresponding to the carcass weights.
Loin eye area (LEA) values were in the range between 9.74 and
11.18 sq. cm.
T2 group had the highest and T5 group had the lowest values. In
general, carcass length and LEA values were higher for the grazing
groups (T1, T2 and T3) compared to stall fed (T4 and T5) groups.
Loin eye area was also higher in grazing groups than the stall
fed groups18. In contrast, higher LEA for intensively reared animals
was reported by some researchers10 whereas, some workers11
(215) Muralidharan,Chandirasekaran and Saravanakumar

Table-1. Mean values of carcass characteristics of main season Mecheri ram lambs

Parameter T1 T2 T3 T4 T5

Pre slaughter weight (PSW) (kg) 21.30 25.00 22.80 18.80 18.50
Empty live weight (ELW) (kg) 17.97 20.90 18.79 14.97 14.25
Hot carcass weight (kg) 9.90 12.01 10.61 8.34 8.30
Dressing % on PSW 46.48 48.01 46.52 44.44 45.18
Dressing % on ELW 55.09 57.46 56.47 55.71 58.95
Wholesale cuts (%)
Fore quarter 54.58 53.40 54.57 54.47 53.75
Neck & shoulder 26.24 25.69 25.03 24.36 24.43
Breast & fore shank 15.10 14.20 16.23 16.34 15.15
Rack 13.24 13.48 12.96 13.20 13.38
Hind quarter 45.42 46.60 45.43 45.26 46.25
Loin 12.79 12.89 13.12 12.43 13.22
Legs 32.22 32.57 31.34 32.33 31.35
Carcass composition
Lean (kg) 6.70 8.50 7.11 5.54 5.46
Lean % 67.68 70.77 67.01 66.43 65.00
Bone (kg) 2.98 3.21 3.15 2.57 2.61
Bone % 30.10 26.73 29.69 30.82 31.07
Meat bone ratio 2.25 : 1 2.60 : 1 2.26 : 1 2.15 : 1 2.09 : 1
Fabrication loss (%) 2.24 2.05 3.37 2.74 4.04
Carcass length (cm) 63.00 65.00 64.00 59.00 60.00
Loin eye area (cm2) 10.27 11.18 10.84 9.90 9.74
2
Shear force value(kg/cm ) 5.46 4.83 4.97 4.58 4.70
Muscle cholesterol (mg/100g) 53.72 66.84 60.16 55.71 51.20
Edible organs (kg)
Liver 0.433 0.443 0.435 0.284 0.331
Heart 0.121 0.131 0.133 0.110 0.107
Kidney 0.071 0.078 0.070 0.063 0.059
Spleen 0.054 0.053 0.052 0.048 0.037
Testicles 0.167 0.157 0.179 0.148 0.133
Pluck (kg)
Trachea and lungs 0.233 0.270 0.314 0.222 0.229
Fat (%) 2.12 3.43 2.41 2.32 2.02
 Effect of Rearing System and Supplementation
could not find any difference between these groups. Among
the grazing groups, supplemented groups (T2 and T3) had higher 1.
values than the unsupplemented group (T1)4 whereas other
workers3 could not find any such difference in LEA. 2.
Weights of the edible organs were in the range of average
values and were similar between the groups and the difference 3.
was mainly due to difference in the carcass weight. Fat
percentage was highest in T2 group (3.43 per cent) followed by
4.
T3 (2.41 per cent) and least in T5 (2.02 per cent). This is in
contrast to the available works in which higher fat percentage
5.
was reported for stall fed groups10,2. Since the stall fed group
animals were having lesser growth rate and body weight than
corresponding grazing groups in this trial, probably fat 6.
deposition was very meager in them.
Shear force value: Shear force value was higher for 7.
unsupplemented grazing group (T1) followed by supplemented
grazing groups, where as stall fed groups had lower values. 8.
The difference in the carcass fat content could have contributed
to the difference. In all the groups, shear force values indicated 9.
that the meat is tender and the carcasses are prime16,9.
Muscle cholesterol : Muscle cholesterol levels were higher 10.
in T2 group (66.84 per cent). T3 group had next higher values
and lower values were reported for T4, T1 and T5 groups. 11.
Supplementation increases the fat accretion in muscles and
hence the values are high for supplemented grazing groups. 12.
The results made obvious that hot carcass weights were higher
for the grazing groups (T1, T2 and T3) than the stall fed groups.
13.
Dressing percentage based on pre slaughter weight was highest
(48.01) for the T2 group. Percentages of wholesale cuts were
14.
similar between the groups. T2 group had highest percentage
of lean (70.77) and lowest percentage of bones (26.73). Meat
: bone ratio ranged from 2.09 : 1 to 2.60 :1 and T2 had the 15.
highest value. Carcass length and Loin eye area (LEA) values
were higher for the grazing groups compared to stall fed groups. 16.
Fat percentage was highest in T2 group (3.43 per cent) followed
by T3 (2.41 per cent) and least in T5 (2.02 per cent). Slaughter 17.
studies revealed that T2 group was better in most of the carcass
characteristics followed by T3 group. Stall fed animals had 18.
lower values compared to supplemented grazing groups (T2
and T3).
19.
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