Estimation of Lamb Carcass Composition Using Real-time Ultrasound

Real-time ultrasound measurements (Falco 100 device, linear probe 3.5 MHz) were used to estimate in vivo carcass composition of Hungarian Merino (n=9) and British Milksheep (n=10) ram-lambs. Animals aged 110-120 days and were growing 29.73+/-1.11 kg and 28.98+/--0.95 kg, resp. There were little between-breed differences in the ultrasound records for subcutaneous fat thickness (0.33+/-0.10 cm; 0.36+/-0.05 cm), longissimus muscle depth (LMD) (2.44+/-0.12 cm; 2.29+/-0.13 cm) and area (LMA) (17.65+/-0.89 cm; 16.63+/-0.95 cm) taken between the 12th and 13th rib. In our sample, simple correlation of live-weight with ultrasound LMD and LMA, respectively, was 0.52 and 0.44 in Hungarian Merino and it was 0.57 and 0.58 in British Milksheep rams. The corresponding correlation of cold carcass weight with ultrasound LMD and LMA, respectively was 0.43 and 0.48 in Hungarian Merino and it was 0.49 and 0.50 in British Milk-sheep rams. According to these results, ultrasonic measurements can be envolved into the selection system of lamb breeding programs, because these measurements give additional pieces of information about growth intensity, -capacity, and conformation. Additional experiments are planned to compare live ultrasound and carcass ultrasound records for accuracy.