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Growth and meat quality assessment of entire and castrated suffolk-cross male lambs finished on a traditional grass system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

J.M.L. Anderson  and
G.M. Webster
J.M.L. Anderson
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture University of Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU
G.M. Webster
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture University of Newcastle Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU
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Extract

The aim of this trial was to quantify the variation in growth and lamb meat quality between entire male and castrated male lambs reared under traditional grass systems, and to identify the possible problems in rearing mixed sex groups together. Much work has been carried out on the effects of castration on meat quality and growth (Butler-Hogg et al. 1984; O' Riordan and Hanrahan, 1992), and on pelt removal (Andersen et al.; 1991a, 1991b); this experiment set out to ascertain whether entire male lambs would finish quicker than wether lambs off average condition grass swards in a semi-commercial situation and therefore to determine the necessity of castrating lambs that will be finished by September.

Type
Sheep Nutrition
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science , Volume 1995 , March 1995 , pp. 89
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 1995

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References

Andersen, M.K., Field, R.A., , Riley, M.L., Crouse, J.D. and Bailey, D.G. 1991a. Factors influencing difficulty of removing pelts from lamb carcasses.Journal of Animal Science 69: 4690–4695.10.2527/1991.69124690xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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