Effect of Breed and Thoracolumbar Vertebrae on Carcass Traits of Sheep Breeds of Balochistan
Effect of Breed and Thoracolumbar Vertebrae on Carcass Traits of Sheep Breeds of Balochistan
Rameez Raja Kaleri1,5*, Hubdar Ali Kaleri1, Ahmed Nawaz Khosa2, Raza Ali Mangi3, Ghulam Mustafa Solangi4 Mushtaq Ahmed Jalbani1, Irfan Ali Sahto1 and Muhammad Ismail1
ABSTRACT
The importance of sheep as meat producing animals is increasing worldwide. However, the meat production traits or carcass traits are not studied well. In this study 8 months old, 120 healthier animals with 30 males from each Balochi, Rakhshani, Harnai and Bibrik sheep breeds were randomly selected from various sheep farms of Balochistan. They were divided into A, B, C and D groups including Balochi, Rakhshani, Harnai and Bibrik sheep breeds respectively, raised under the semi-intensive management system. The results for carcass traits including live body weight, carcass weight, dressing percentage and boneless weight significantly higher (P≤0.0) in Balochi sheep breed followed by Bibrik, Rakhshani and Harnai sheep breed. The result for thoracolumbar vertebrae variation were 20, 18, 18 and 19, Balochi, Rakhshani, Harnai and Bibrik, respectively. It is concluded that Balochi sheep breed carcass traits are better expressed and produce more meat as compared with other sheep breeds whereas, thoracolumbar vertebrae number is positively associated with the carcass weight and carcass quality.
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