A STUDY ON CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF MAHABUBNAGAR GOATS*.

Eight male Mahabubnagar goats were slaughtered to study the meat production potential and carcass traits. The dressing percentages based on pre-slaughter weight and empty body weight were 44.60 ± 0.95 and 59.74 ± 1.07, while the average pre-slaughter weight, empty body weight and hot carcass weights were 24.36 ± 1.00, 18.29 ± 1.09 and 10.90 ± 0.60 kg respectively. The mean edible and inedible organs weight were 0.81 ± 0.02 and 6.97±0.25 kg respectively. The mean weight of primal cuts of carcass i.e., leg, loin, rack, neck and shoulder, breast and fore shank were 3.75 ± 0.28, 1.10 ± 0.04, 0.97 ± 0.05, and 2.91 ± 0.17 and 2.21 ± 0.12 kg respectively. High proportion of meat in neck and shoulder (70.97 %), bone in rack (37.33%) and fat in loin (5.71 %) regions of primal cuts were noticed. The pre-slaughter weight and dressing percentages were correlated positively and significantly with all the primal cuts except loin. The pre-slaughter weight significantly contributed to the prediction of total edible organs, total inedible organs and different primal cuts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]