Carcass characteristics of Nellore cattle kept intact or castrated at two ages, feedlot finished

Carcass dressing and primary cuts of Nellore cattle, submitted to the treatments: C13 = steers castrated at 13 months of age (n= 26); C18 = steers castrated at 18 months of age before feedlot (n= 26) and INT = intact males (n= 25) was evaluated in this researach. The animals were confined per 100 days, fed diet with 12,0 % crude protein, 2.9 Mcal of DE/kg DM and forage to concentrate ratio of 60: 40 (% DM), and slaughtered at 22 months of age. A completely randomized experimental design was used. The INT animals showed higher slaughter weight 395.0 kg, hot (214.89 kg) and cold - CCW (212.21 kg) carcass weights then castrated, without differences between castrated at different ages. The INT animals showed higher cold dressing percentage (53.71%) and Longissimus dorsi muscle area (LDA) (61.23 cm(2)) in relation to C13 (51.99% and 56.59 cm(2), respectively), without differences between C13 vs C18 and C18 vs INT. The sexual condition did not influence hot dressing percentage, chilling loss, LDA/100 kg CCW, carcass length, arm length and perimeter, and side cut. The INT animals showed lower values for fat thickness in relation to castrated, that did not differ between them. The INT animals showed higher percentage for forequarter (40.13) and lower for side cut (10.22) and saw cut (50.24) than C13 (38.33; 11.09 and 51.77, respectively) and C18 (38.82; 10.73 and 51.46, respectively), without difference between them. In absolute values, INT animals showed higher forequarter weight than castrated, which did not differ between them, and higher saw cut weight than C13.