Carcass Characteristics of Tagger Goat Male and Female Kids in Eldalneng Area, South Kordufan State, Sudan

Abstract

Tagger goats are promising meat breed with excellent conformation and meat quality in Nuba Mountains, but are neglected. The objectives of this study were to study carcass characteristics, body components and wholesale cuts of male and female Tagger kids of about six months old in Eldaleng area, South Kordufan State, Sudan. There were no significant differences between males and females in body components except for heads and skins (P?0.05). The Slaughter, empty body, hot carcass weights and dressing percentages on live and empty body weight bases were heavier in males compared to females and were highly significantly (P?0.01) affected by sex, with no significant differences between sexes in slaughter weight and dressing percentage on empty body weight basis. Carcass muscle and fat percentages were significantly higher in males, while carcass bone percentage was significantly higher in females (P?0.05). Muscle: bone ratio was highly significantly (P?0.01) higher in males than females and muscle: fat ratio was higher in females with no significant difference. Carcasses were split into six wholesale cuts and best end of neck and breast were significantly (P?0.05) higher in males than females.