Carcass conformation and joints composition of Churra Galega Bragan.ana and crossbred lambs by Suffolk and Merino Precoce sire breeds.

English. Carcasses of Churro Galego Bragan.ano purebred and Suffolk and Merino Precoce crossbred lambs reared under three different conventional production system of northeast of Portugal were evaluated. Carcasses of male lambs had larger muscle longissimus width (P < 0.05) and smaller subcutaneous fat thickness (P < 0.05) than the female lambs. Carcasses of crossbred lambs had higher (P < 0.05) compactness indices and leg and shoulder proportion than Bragan.ano purebred. Suffolk crossed had lower KKCF proportion (P < 0.05) than Bragan.ano and Merino crossbred lambs. Male lambs had higher (P < 0.05) muscle proportion in almost all carcass joints than the female lambs. It was concluded that Suffolk can be used as sire breed in Bragan.ano ewes to produce lambs with leaner and more compact carcasses and better fat distribution, which allows slaughtering at higher slaughter weight, specially in more intensive production systems. Female lambs should be slaughtered at lower carcass weight than male lambs in order to produce carcasses with the same fattening degree.

Spanish; Castilian. Se evaluaron canales de corderos Churra Galega Bragan.ana y se cruzaron con Suffolk y Merino Precoz criados en tres sistemas de producci.n en el nordeste de Portugal. Los corderos machos presentaron el m.sculo longissimus m.s ancho (P < 0.05) y con menor (P < 0.05) espesor de grasa subcut.nea que las hembras. Los corderos cruzados tuvieron mayores (P < 0.05) .ndices de compacidad y de proporciones de pierna y espalda que los Bragan.anos. Los corderos cruzados Suffolk tuvieron menor proporci.n de grasa perirrenal que los Bragan.anos y cruzados Merino. Los corderos machos tuvieron mayores (P < 0.05) proporciones de m.sculo, en casi todos los cortes, que las hembras. Se concluye que se pueden utilizar sementales Suffolk sobre ovejas Bragan.anas para producir corderos con canales m.s magras, m.s compactas y con mejor distribuci.n de la grasa, permitiendo sacrificios a pesos m.s elevados, especialmente en los sistemas de producci.n m.s intensivos. Las hembras deben ser sacrificadas con pesos m.s bajos para producir canales con el mismo estado de engrasamiento que los machos.