The effect of age on slaughter and carcass characteristics in male zavot cattle

This study was carried out to determine the effect of age on male Zavot cattle for slaughter and carcass characteristics. For this aim, 18 male Zavot cattle were divided equally into groups 1, 2 and 3 containing animals 6, 18 and 30 months old, respectively. The fattening period lasted 162 days and there was a 14-day adaptation period. Individual ad-libitum feeding was used during the experiment. At the end of the fattening period, the mean liveweight of groups 1, 2 and 3 was 202.9, 327.3 and 348.5 kg; hot carcass weight was 106.3, 190.7 and 197.2 kg; and the dressing percentage was 52.4%, 58.2% and 56.5% respectively. According to slaughter characteristics, there were statistically significant differences among the groups in terms of the rate of the internal fat (P < 0.05), of the kidney-kidney fat, of the 10th-12th rib fat and carcass measurements (P < 0.01). Moreover, significant correlations among the live weight, slaughter characteristics, and body and carcass measurements were also defined (P < 0.001). Finally, it was concluded that 18 months is the most suitable age to start fattening male Zavot cattle.