Abstract

The carcass weight, composition and meat quality of entire rams, Kelly and Russian castrates, wethers and ewes under 6 months old were compared. Wether lamb carcasses averaged 0.6 kg heavier than those of the ewes and the Russian (0.4 kg), Kely (0.6 kg) and ram (0.8 kg) carcasses were heavier than those of the wethers slaughtered at the same mean age. The ram and partial castrates were less fat than the wethers (2.4 to 3.3%) which in turn were 2.7% less fat than the ewes. There were no practical differences in percentage carcass cuts between the rams, partial castrates or castrates. A consumer taste panel in which 48 participating families cooked and tasted a ram and wether leg roast detected no difference between the two types of meat.

RA, Barton

Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production, Volume 42, , 107-112, 1982