Browsing by Subject "Merino land race sheep"

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    Untersuchungen zu Einfachgebrauchskreuzungen beim Merinolandschaf
    (2013) Henseler, Stefanie; Bennewitz, Jörn
    The present study examined the meat and carcase quality of lambs slaughtered in the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg in order to determine the sire breeds most suitable for the Merinolandschaf, a Merino land race. For this purpose, rams of the meat breeds Charollais, Ile de France, Blackheaded sheep, Suffolk and Texel were bred to the widespread Merinolandschaf in order to produce cross bred lambs. In addition, rams of the Merinolandschaf were used to produce purebred lambs. The lambs were raised on seven farms, then fattened at one farm and slaughtered. 1600 lambs were used to evaluate meat quality, fattening performance and yield at slaughter. 105 animals were chosen from a total of 1600 lambs used in the study. These were tasted by a panel consisting of 21 persons. Results of this sensory analysis were combined with results in regard to fattening performance, yield at slaughter and quality of meat in a joint index. The net gain from fattening of the Texel sheep surpassed all other crossbreeds. In regard to yield from slaughter, crossbreeds with Charollais, Ile de France and Texel showed improvement in development of haunches and classification. Texel crossbreed ranked highest in respect to meat area of the chops. The parameters determining the quality of the meat – drip loss and loss by cooking – were lowest for pure Merinolandschaf. High shear force was necessary for meat of Suffolk and Texel crossbreeds, whereas Charollais crossbreed showed the lowest value for this parameter. The sensory analysis showed that crossbreeds with Charollais, Blackhead sheep and Suffolk as well as the pure breed Merinolandschaf are well suited to production of high-quality lamb‘s meat. In addition, it was shown that lamb’s meat from the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg differs significantly from lamb’s meat from New Zealand. There is a significant negative correlation between shear force according to Warner-Bratzler and the perceived tenderness of meat. The joint index consists of 10 economically relevant parameters, relatively weighted according to economic factors. The first rank was achieved by the crossbreed with Ile de France, followed by Texel, Suffolk and Blackhead sheep. To choose the optimal rams, i.e. the optimal sire breed, under practical circumstances, it is vital to take the conditions of the individual farm – such as marketing strategies – into consideration. With different weighting of single traits ranking of breeds can differ.