Abstract

Crossbreeding can be used in the hill sector to improve the efficiency of production. Carsonet al. (2001) showed that ram breed substitution increased lamb output per ewe by 24% with concomitant improvements in carcass quality. However, information is required for a range of crossing sire breeds for the hill sector to enable the most effective crossbreeding programmes to be developed. Therefore, the primary aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a range of lamb genotypes on lamb meat quality. Furthermore, a range of production systems (long-keep grass-based systems to short-keep concentrate-based systems) are used to finish hill lambs. Diet type (i.e. roughage-versus concentrate-based) can also affect lamb growth rates and carcass characteristics (Carsonet al., 2001). Consequently, a secondary aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of diet and its interaction with lamb genotype on lamb meat quality.

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