SOME CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF LOCAL AND TURKISH AWASSI SHEEP IN SEMI-INTENSIVE SYSTEM

The investigation was carried out at Sheep and Goat breeding Station, State Board of Agricultural Research, Ministry of Agriculture in Agargouf, 25 km west of Baghdad, during Feb, 2010 to August, 2011. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare between local Awassi and Turkish Awassi breeds in Some Carcass characteristics which include: Hot carcass weight, Dressing percentage, Rib eye area, Fat thickness, Carcass cuts percentage and physical composition of leg and Rack cuts .50 male lambs were slaughtered at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months of age (5 male lambs of each breed at each age). The lambs reared under semi-intensive production System, with good feeding, good disease control, and suitable housing were provided. The results showed that Turkish Awassi lamb significantly (P<0.01) surpassed local Awassi lambs in Hot carcass weight at 18 month, local Awassi lambs significantly(P<0.05) surpassed Turkish Awassi lambs in leg and shoulder cuts percentage at 3 months of age, no significant effect of breed group was found at 6, 9, 12 and 18 months of age. No significant effect on the breed groups was found in Dressing percentage, Rib eye area, Fat thickness and physical composition of leg and Rack cuts at 3, 6, 9, 12, and 18 months of age. It was concluded that imported Turkish Awassi lambs were similar to Local Awassi in carcass characteristics under semi-intensive System.