Comparison of the carcass characteristics and meat quality of lambs produced from Texel and Rouge de l’Ouest ewes and their crosses

Abstract

AbstractAn experiment was undertaken to compare the carcass characteristics and meat quality of lambs from crossbred ewes produced by crossing Texel sires with Rouge de l’Ouest dams and Rouge sires with Texel dams, relative to lambs from purebred Texel and Rouge ewes. The ewes were crossed with Texel or Rouge sires and the relative performance of the sires assessed in terms of lamb carcass quality. Ewe and ram genotype had a significant effect on conformation classification. Lambs from Texel ewes had a greater conformation classification (4·0) than lambs from Rouge ewes (3·4, s.e. 0·09) (P<0·001) and Texel-sired lambs had a greater conformation classification (4·0) than Rouge-sired lambs (3·6, s.e. 0·06) (P<0·001). Fat depth was significantly influenced by ewe genotype with lambs from Texel × Rouge ewes having greater fat depths compared with lambs from Texel ewes (longissimus dorsi 2·3 and 1·9 (s.e.0·12) mm respectively) (P<0·05). Chemical composition of the carcass and meat quality measurements were unaffected by ewe or ram genotype. Significant heterosis effects on lamb live-weight gain (21 g/day; 15%) (P<0·01) from birth to slaughter, age at slaughter (–37 days; –12%) (P<0·01), weight of perinephric and retroperitoneal fat (76 g; 38%) (P<0·01) and fat depth over the longissimus dorsi (0·3 mm; 16%) and gluteus medius (0·5 mm; 17%;P<0·05) were obtained. The results from this study demonstrate that significant heterosis effects, particularly in terms of lamb growth rate, can be achieved by crossing Rouge and Texel breeds. In addition lambs from hybrid ewes have similar conformation characteristics to the Texel breed which has been intensively selected for carcass characteristics.