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Utilization of live body weight, measurements, and eye muscle components to predict carcass performance of fattened Egyptian male buffalo calves

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Abstract

Carcass performance of 12 fattened male buffalo calves equally grouped by slaughter weights of 300, 350, 400, and 450 kg was evaluated. Six parameters of body measurements such as chest girth, height at withers, body length, body depth, width at pin bones, and diagonal body length were recorded for each calf immediately before slaughter to test their relationships with live body weight, carcass weight (hot and cold) and its components (head, legs, liver, heart, etc.), and eye muscle area at the 10th–13th ribs. Boneless meat and bones formed 36.6 to 39.0% and 9.3 to 11.0% of live weight, respectively. Chest girth had strong correlation with all carcass traits except bone weight and was the best predictor of boneless meat and carcass fat weights (R2 = 0.90, 0.78). The slaughter weight and height at withers and the 10th–13th rib fat weight were the best predictors of hot and cold carcass (R2 ≥ 97.0), carcass bones (R2 = 76%), and hot and cold carcass (R2 = 85.0, 86.5%) weights, respectively.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank all the staff members of the Feeds and Fattening Unit belonging to Alexandria University, Egypt, for their assistance throughout the work of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture (El-Shatby), Alexandria University, Aflaton Street, El-Shatby, Alexandria, 22545, Egypt

    A. M. A. Rashad, Dalia K. EL-Hedainy, A. E. Mahdy, A. E. Badran & A. S. A. El-Barbary

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  1. A. M. A. Rashad
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  2. Dalia K. EL-Hedainy
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  3. A. E. Mahdy
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  4. A. E. Badran
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Correspondence to A. M. A. Rashad.

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All applicable international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. All procedures performed in studies involving animals were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted. Also, the study was conducted in a manner that avoided unnecessary discomfort to the animals by the use of proper management.

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Rashad, A.M.A., EL-Hedainy, D.K., Mahdy, A.E. et al. Utilization of live body weight, measurements, and eye muscle components to predict carcass performance of fattened Egyptian male buffalo calves. Trop Anim Health Prod 51, 2405–2412 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-019-01950-x

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