Effect of breed (wool and hair) and sex on the carcass quality of suckling lambs under intensive management

Carcasses of twenty lambs (10 males and 10 females) from the Canaria Hair breed (CHB) and another twenty (10 males and 10 females) from the Canaria breed (CB) of 9.91 +/- 0.73 kg and 9.87 +/- 0.80 kg live weight, respectively, were studied. In the principal component (PC) analysis, the projection of carcass measurement data in the first PC allowed for clearly distinguishing between CB and CHB. In the analysis of variance, breed effect was observed in the morphology of the carcass: CB lambs showed the longest carcasses and CHB lambs showed the widest carcasses. Due to their wider rump and shorter legs, CHB lambs presented a more compact leg index. The carcasses from Canaria lambs had the highest fat score, the heaviest shoulder and the highest total fat percentage. The carcasses from CHB lambs showed a higher lean percentage. The carcass yield, conformation, degree of fatness and tissue composition were similar in both sexes. However, significant differences in the commercial cut yield were observed: males showed heavier shoulders than females. The effect of sex on carcass quality is unimportant. The breeds are different in important characteristics for the market, such as fatness. This fact is of significant interest because it diversifies the offer and means that different markets can be satisfied.