EFFECT OF CASTRATION AND SLAUGHTER WEIGHTS ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, CARCASS TRAITS, MUSCLE AND FAT DISTRIBUTION OF BLACK GOAT AND MERIZ KIDS

Abstract

To study the influence of castration and slaughter weight, 24 weaned kids from each of Black goat and Meriz kids were divided equally into two groups, the first was castrated, while the second was left intact, and all were fed individually and slaughtered at 15, 20 and 25kg. Results revealed that the overall mean of daily gain (DG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), Dressing percentage (DP), rib eye area (REA) and fat thickness (FT) averaged respectively 0.073±0.003kg, 6.062±0.32kg/kg, 41.17±0.35%, 10.05±0.40 cm2 and 0.33±0.04mm. It seems that breed had no significant effect on DG and DP. Black goat had significantly higher FCR, REA and FT than Meriz kids, and intact kids had significantly (P<0.05) higher DG and FCR than castrated only. A significant effect was noticed of slaughter weight on DG, FCR, REA and FT being highest in kids slaughtered at 25kg. A significant effect was observed for the effect of breed, castration and slaughter weight on some of muscle groups (MG1, MG3, MG4, MG5, MG6, MG7, MG9). Breed and castration had no effect on total carcass fat. Meriz kids had significantly(P<0.05) higher lean: fat ratio and lean: bone ratio.