Allometric growth of ½ Dorper + ½ Santa Inês lambs slaughtered with different subcutaneous fat thicknesses

Abstract: The objective of this work was to evaluate the allometric growth, the correlation of the cuts with the half carcasses, and the muscularity index of the leg of ½ Dorper + ½ Santa Ines lambs slaughtered with 2.0, 3.0, and 4.0 mm of subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT). Twenty-four non-castrated male lambs were used, being distributed according to their weight into three collective pens. Slaughtering occurred as the lambs reached the SFT predetermined by ultrasound. The half carcasses were weighed, dissected, and separated into five cuts: neck, shoulders, rib, loin, and leg. These cuts were dissected and weighed into muscle, subcutaneous fat, intermuscular fat, and bone. In the shoulders, lambs with 2.0 and 4.0 mm SFT showed early growth. In the rib, this early precocity was observed in lambs with 4.0 mm SFT. The leg showed isogonic growth in lambs with 3.0 and 4.0 mm SFT and was the cut that best correlated with the half carcass, regardless of the SFT. The slaughter of ½ Dorper + ½ Santa Ines lambs with 4.0 mm of subcutaneous fat allows obtaining a better allometric growth of the shoulder, rib, and leg cuts, as well as a better leg muscularity index.