Carcass composition of New Zealand Saanen goats slaughtered at different weights

Abstract

Eighteen intact male Saanen goats (BW 5 to 115 kg; hot carcass weight 2 to 52 kg) and 19 females (BW 17 to 64 kg; hot carcass weight 8 to 32 kg) were studied. Newly born female goats were not available to cover the light end of the female range but mature females were at the upper end. Males ranged from newborn kids to mature animals. One side of the carcass of each animal was dissected into fat, muscle and bone. The mean muscle content of male goats was constant around 60% and of females declined from 62 to 50%, from lightest to heaviest animals. Decline in muscle content of female carcasses mainly reflected an increase in fatness from 11 to 33% whereas fatness of male carcasses only increased on average from 10 to 18% from lightest to heaviest animals. Within sexes, as weight increased the bone content of males decreased from 26 to 19% and in females decreased from 25 to 14%. Allometric growth coefficients are given relating carcass dissectible and chemical components to carcass weight, joint weights to side weight, joint components to total joint weight, fat depot weights to total dissectible fat weight and weights of tissues in cuts to total weight of the same tissue in the sides. The proportion of muscle found in Saanen goat carcasses was higher and the proportion of fat was lower than that normally found in sheep of similar sex and maturity.