Effects of breed and castration on slaughter weight and carcass composition of goats

Abstract

Sixty-seven male goats were used to determine the effects of Toggenburg (T) and Anglo-Nubian (N) sire breeds, East African (E) and Galla (G) dam breeds, and castration on carcass characteristics. Breed crosses were T×E, E×G, N×E and N×G. Animals were in three age groups averaging 7.2, 14.7 and 23.9 months at slaughter. Intact males slaughtered at 7.2 months had a chilled dressing percentage 3.8% and 10.1% lower than animals slaughtered at 14.7 and 23.9 months, respectively. Differences between T and N sire breeds were small for slaughter weight, dressing percentage, and carcass lean, fat and bone composition. Large differences between E and G dam breeds were observed for slaughter weight, dressing percentage, total bone and internal fat percent. Generally, T×E crossbreds ranked lowest and T×G ranked highest for slaughter weight and dressing percent, and vice versa for total bone percent, reflecting breed of dam differences. Castration influenced accretion of fat. Castrated males averaged higher total fat, carcass fat, internal fat and kidney fat, and less lean than intact males. Despite differences in carcass fat and lean proportions between intact and castrated males, the dressing percentage difference was small (0.1%). This has implications when carcass quality is a major goal to utilize the differences in carcass fat and lean composition of castrated and intact males.