›› 2014, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (12): 152-156.

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Effect of Different Stocking Density on Slaughter Performance and Meat Quality of Fattening Sheep under Barn Feeding Conditions in Winter

WU He-qun1, FU Xiu-zhen1, CHEN Wen-wu1, WANG Lei2, CUI Lei1, ZHANG Zi-rong1, DENG Xian-de3   

  1. 1. Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Station, The Six Division of Xinjiang Regiment, Wujiaqu 831300, China;
    2. College of Animal Science and Technology, Shihezi University of Xinjiang, Shihezi 832000, China;
    3. Planning Design and Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100125, China
  • Received:2014-04-22 Online:2014-12-20 Published:2014-12-25

Abstract: This experiment was conducted to study the effect of different stocking density on slaughter performance and meat quality of fattening sheep in winter.A total of 144 6-month-old Aletai fat tailed sheep F1 hybrid generation were randomly divided into 4 groups with 36 sheep in each group.Each sheep respectively covered an area of 0.35, 0.70, 1.05 and 1.40 m2 of groups 1, 2, 3 and 4.The whole experiment period was 45 d.The results showed that carcass weight, dressing percentage, net meat weight and net meat percentage decreased from group 4 to group 1.Compared with group 1, the carcass weight, dressing percentage, net meat weight and net meat percentage of group 4 were significantly increased by 20.65%, 11.00%, 30.40% and 19.73% (P<0.05), respectively.The scores of meat color for all groups was 3 to 4 points.The marbling was 1 to 1.1 points, the pH was the lowest, the shear force was the highest, the tenderness was the worst for group 1.In conclusion, under the condition of this experiment, the low breeding density (1.40 m2) had the better slaughter performance and meat quality, the high breeding density (0.35 m2) had the reverse effect.

Key words: fattening sheep; stocking density; slaughter performance; meat quality

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