PERFORMANCE, CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS AND CENTESIMAL COMPOSITION OF MEAT FROM LAMBS SANTA INES AND CROSSBRED ANIMALS: HALF BLOOD SANTA INES x HALF BLOOD TEXEL

This study aimed to evaluate the performance, carcass characteristics and centesimal composition of the meat of intact and castrated lambs of the Santa Ines breed and of the crossbred animals: ½ Santa Ines x ½ Texel. 34 lambs were used, being nine intact and nine castrated males of the Santa Ines breed, regarding the crossbred, there were seven intact and nine castrated males, aged between six and seven months and with average live weight of 18.2 kg. The design was completely randomized in a factorial 2x2 ( two crossing and two sexual conditions), with statistical analyses performed in the STAT program. There was a significant difference between the Texel and Santa Ines crossbred animals to FC and ADG, with superiority thereof. Castration of animals aged less than twelve months had no significant effect on the performance and on the carcass traits of the Texel and Santa Ines crossbred animals, while the genotype determined great influence on weight gain and on subjective and quantitative carcass character...