Carcass and meat characteristics of the three-breed goat

At present, there is very limited information on the carcass and meat characteristics of different breeds of goats. This is mainly because goats in the Philippines are sold on a per head basis and their carcasses seldom undergo standard fabrication procedure, especially when flayed for slaughter. Because of the continued efforts to improve breeds to produce good quality goats, it is important to consider carcass and meat characteristics. This information will allow goat raisers to respond to the needs of the local market and achieve better price for their produce and ultimately higher income from their fattened goats. Hence, Cruz et al. (CLSU) [Central Luzon State University, Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines] evaluated the carcass and meat characteristics of three-way-cross (TWC) upgraded, and native goats raised under pure confinement and slaughtered at 8 months. The study was done from Oct 2005 to Sep 2007. A total of 18 intact males about 8 months at age were equally divided into three treatments. The animals were fattened in a slatted floor pen equipped with feeder and waterer, and stall-fed with locally available forages. They were supplemented with legumes and crop residues. The slaughter and carcass yield of the fattened TWC goats were significantly higher than those of the upgraded and native goats. However, dressing percentage of TWC (47.71%) was similar to that of native goats (47.31%). TWC and upgraded goats had almost the same carcass length (20 in and 19.28 in, respectively), which was longer than that of the native goats (17.83 in). Chevron from TWC revealed a grayish pink to normal lean color compared with the slightly pink color of the upgraded and native goats' meat. No significant difference was observed in the weight if selected visceral organs such as heart, lungs, and liver between TWC goats and upgrades. Marbling and fat yield was not influenced by breed differences. Sensory evaluation showed similar flavor, tenderness, juiciness, and eating preference for chevron from TWC, upgrades, and native goats. The average scores for the tenderness, juiciness, texture, color, flavor, gamey flavor, and general acceptability were 5.86 (neither tender nor tough), 5.88 (neither juicy nor dry), 5.57 (neither fine nor coarse) 3.16 (reddish brown), 5.98 (neither full nor weak characteristic flavor), 4.20 (perceivable gamey flavor) and 6.0 (moderately acceptable respectively. Partial budget analysis revealed that an added benefit of 2,504.82 was obtained when TWC goats were disposed as slaughter, wholesale cuts than when sold on live weight basis. This value was higher than the incremental benefit of PhP 1,980.00 and PhP 1,497.41 from selling chevron cuts from upgraded and native goats, respectively. Furthermore, the incremental benefits from selling the animal on liveweight basis were PhP 1,923.30 for TWC, PhP 1,563.30 for upgraded and PhP 1,192.50 for native goats. Net benefit from slaughtering was noted to be highest in TWC with PhP 581.52. The study proved that TWC had better slaughter and carcass yield, comparable carcass quality and composition than upgraded goats. Moreover, slaughtering the goats could give additional income compared to selling them on per head basis. Apparently, consumers had no problem accepting the meat of TWC when sold as carcass. Farmers could easily raise TWC goats and slaughtering them could provide added benefits. TWC are fast growing and larger in size, with greater carcass weight. While results of this study showed comparable carcass characteristics of TWC and upgraded goats, further studies should be done to validate such results under different management systems. Furthermore, goat raisers should be encouraged to slaughter their goats at market age, as they have attained appropriate weight at this time, and command a better price in the market.