Tissue composition and allometric growth of carcass of lambs Santa Ines and crossbreed with breed Dorper

This study aimed to assess the tissue composition and allometric growth of carcasses of Santa Ines and crossbred Dorper x Santa Ines lambs confined for different periods at three body weight classes. Sixty-four lambs from Santa Ines (SI) and crossbred Dorper x Santa Ines (DSI) were slaughtered. The carcasses were refrigerated at 4 degrees C for 24 h, and half of the right side carcass was divided into five primary cuts, which were then dissected into bone, muscle, and fat. The corrected cold carcass weight (CCWc) was calculated based on the sum of the cuts. There was no effect of the interactions evaluated (P > 0.05) among the factors tested. CCWc, muscle (kg), fat (kg), bone (%), M:F, M:B, F:B, and M+F:B were influenced by the lambs' genetic group (P < 0.05). An effect of body weight at the beginning of confinement was found only for CCWc, muscle (kg), fat (kg), bone (kg), bone (%), and M:F. The crossbreeding of Santa Ines with breeds Dorper promotes improvements in the qualitative characteristics of the carcass. To obtain better relationships of the quantitative characteristics of the carcass, of sheep introduced in confinements with larger weights, the slaughter weight must be adjusted to that initial weight.