INFLUENCE OF LIVE WEIGHT AND CASTRATION ON DISTRIBUTION OF MEAT, FAT AND BONE IN THE CARCASS OF GOATS

Carcasses of 18 Iraqi indigenous black goats were studied. Castration had no significant effect on percentages of lean meat, fat and bone in the major cuts, neck, shoulder, loin, leg, arm and breast except for percentages of lean and bone in the rack. Live weight increase of anim als at slaughter from 18.5 to 24.5 kg caused significant increases in the percentage of lean meat, and significant decreases in bone in the joints of neck, shoulder and breast. No significant differences were o bserved in the components of rack, loin, leg and arm cuts. Weights or percentages of lean meat, fat and bone in the left side of the carcass were not affected significantly by castration. On the other hand, per centage side muscle and fat increased and bone content decreased signi ficantly (P < 0.01) due to the increase of weight at slaughter. Signif icant correlations were observed between lean meat percent in the side of the carcass and that in the individual cuts for leg and breast (r = 0.60 and 0.58, respectively). Percentages of fat in the side of the carcass correlated significantly with fat content of all cuts except f or the nect. Bone content of the rack, arm and breast correlated signi ficantly with the cotent of fat in the side, while correlation coeffic ients between bone in the carcass and neck, shoulder, loin and leg wer e not significant. The most convenient joint for prediction of muscles , fat and bone content of the carcasses was the breast. Carcasses of I raqi indigenous black goats were found to contain on average 63.6% lea n meat, 2.1% fat and 34.2% bone.