Body and carcass composition of male and female Criollo goats in the south of Chile

The body and carcass composition of 12 male and 12 female Criollo goats, naturally reared, between 4 and 6 months old was determined. At mean live weights of 20.2 kg in males and 19.4 kg in females, mean carcass weights were similar (8.6 kg and 8.2 kg, respectively). Body components were similar in males and females in terms of weights and proportions, except for the head, which was proportionately heavier in males, and omental fat, which was heavier in females. The mean proportion of kidney fat, the carcass length and the fat depth over the loin were also similar. The mean proportions in terms of carcass composition for males and females were: 59.5% and 58.0% for muscle; 13.2% and 16.3% for fat; 23.5% and 22.1% for bone (P > 0.05), Fat in different depots tended to be higher at similar carcass weights in females than in males, but differences were statistically significant only for dissectible fat in the shoulder and thorax joints. The leg was the joint with the highest muscle content, whilst the thorax showed the highest proportion of fat, especially in females. The proportion of intramuscular fat in the semitendinosus muscle was higher in females (2.3%) than in males (1.53%; P < 0.05) and the tenderness as measured by shear force values in longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle was similar in males and females. According to these results, a similar carcass dressing proportion and carcass composition can be expected from male and female Criollo goats when slaughtered at similar live weights, but fat content in the shoulder and thorax joints, and intramuscularly will be higher in females.