Relationships Between Live Body and Carcass Measurements and Carcass Components in Omani Sheep

Thirty two Omani sheep including eight intact males. 16 castrated males and eight intact females were fed ad libitum a concentrate diet (l6% CP) plus chopped Rhodesgrass hay (8% CP) from weaning until slaughter at an average weight of 26 kg. Correlation and regression analyses were carried out to evaluate relationships between live body and carcass measurements with major body components. Generally there were positive correlations between slaughter weight, empty body weight (EBW) and hot carcass weight with total carcass muscle (r2 =0.57, 0.59, 0.59). fat (r2= 0.47, 0.48, 0.68) and bone (r2 = 0.51, 0.44, 0.31) contents respectively. There were also positive correlations (r2 = 0.44- 0.59) between linear live body and carcass measurements with carcass muscle content. The depth of tissue over the 11th rib (GR) had a high positive correlation (r2= 0.67) with total carcass fat content. The weight of most individual bones and muscles had positive correlations (r2=0.39 - 0.85) with carcass muscle and bone content. There was a positive correlation between weight chuck (r2 = 0.62), brisket and shank (r2< 0.38), leg (r2 = 0.79) and loin (r2 = 0.45) carcass cuts with total carcass muscle content. Muscle content in all carcass cuts had a positive correlation (r2 = 0.46-0.86) with total carcass muscle content. Bone content in all carcass cuts had a high positive correlation (r2 = 0.46-0.90) with the total carcass bone content. A 3-variahle (body length,  chest depth and leg length) and a 4-variable (hot carcass weight , hook width,  rib width and GR) models were generated which accounted for 84% and 70% of the variation in the total muscle content, respectively. This study showed that live body and carcass measurements have significant relationships with carcass components in Omani sheep. These relationships may be utilized for prediction of carcass composition in live animals as well as for carcass quality assessment.