Effect of dental age on edible and non-edible meat yield characteristics of indigenous beef cattle

Abstract

The objective of this study was to know the effect of dental age on the meat yield characteristics of indigenous beef carcasses. This experiment was conducted with five (5) treatments (T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅) where T₁ = 0 Permanent incisor, T₂ = 2 Permanent incisors, T₃ = 4 Permanent incisors, T₄ = 6 Permanent incisors, T₅ = 8 Permanent incisors having ten (10) replications. From the experiment it shows that live and hot carcass weight increased significantly in T₁ and T₂ compared to T₃, T₄ and T₅. Cold carcass weight (CCW) increased significantly with the advancement of dental maturity. KPH% was highest in T₄ and lowest in T₃ whereas round and loin% were highest in T₄ and T₃ respectively but both are lowest in T₁. Lungs with trachea, liver and kidney weight% were significantly higher in T₁ than others group. In conclusion, maximum live weight gain and hot carcass weight were achieved in the dental age groups of two to four permanent incisors.