Predicting body composition of hair-lambs based on body mass index

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body mass index corrected (BMIc) for empty body weight and chemical components in hair sheep lambs. Thirty-eight weaned Pelibuey lambs (21 males and 17 females, with an average weight of 10.64 +/- 2.46 kg) were used. The carcass was dissected into muscle and fat and ground together. The viscera and blood were mixed, ground, and one sample was collected from each animal. Crude protein and fat were determined in carcass and viscera samples. Correlation and regression were used to estimate the relationships between body composition and BMI. The correlation between BMIc and carcass crude protein (CCP) and visceral crude protein (VCP) was 0.80 and 0.50, respectively (P < 0.0001). BMIc showed a correlation of 0.71 and 0.70 with carcass fat (CF) and visceral fat (VF), respectively (P < 0.0001). The R2 values ranged from 0.52 to 0.97 for equations involving BMIc and body chemical composition. For carcass chemical components, CCP, CF and CE (carcass energy) with BMIc and R2 ranged from 0.64 (RSD: 0.10 kg) for CCP, 0.53 (RSD: 0.16 kg) for CF to 0.62 (RSD: 7.98) for CE. Visceral composition and BMIc had R2 values ranging from 0.96 for VCP (RSD: 0.05 kg), 0.52 for VF (RSD: 0.09 kg) to 0.55 (RSD: 4.34 kg) for VE (visceral energy). BMIc can be used to moderately predict body chemical composition in weaned Pelibuey lambs.

Automated summary

The study aimed to evaluate the relationship between BMIc and chemical components in hair sheep lambs. Results showed that there was a correlation between BMIc and the composition of muscle, fat, and viscera.