Determination of carcass traits in Pelibuey ewes using biometric measurements

The objective of this study was to evaluate de relationship between biometric measurements (BM) and carcass traits of 28 Pelibuey ewes. The BM were obtained the day before the slaughter and included height at withers (HW), rib depth (RD), body diagonal length (BDL), body length (BL), pelvic girdle length (PGL), rump depth (RuD), rump height (RH), pin bone width (PBW), hook bone width (HBW), abdomen width (AW), girth circumference (GC), and abdomen circumference (AC). Additional measurements included shrunk BW (SBW) and empty BW (EBW). Data recorded at slaughter were weights of viscera, carcass, and internal fat and offals. The carcasses was weighed, and chilled at 1 °C during 24 h; then, the left half of the carcass was completely dissected into subcutaneous and intermuscular fat (carcass fat), muscle, and bone and each component weighed separately. The result indicated that the equations to predict SBW and EBW involving BM had an r2 that ranged from 0.72 to 0.91. For weights of muscle, carcass fat, and bone, the r2 ranged from 0.57 to 0.93. We concluded that using BM can improve the accuracy and precision of the predictions of carcass traits of Pelibuey ewes to selection programs and to assist decision support systems to determine optimal carcass endpoint.