Características de carcaça de matrizes ovinas de descarte

Abstract

The national sheep herd reached a total of 21,792,139 heads in 2023, with the state of Pernambuco accounting for 3,674,659 heads, a significant number of animals, many of which are annually culled. In sheep farming systems, ewes are essential tools for animal production, but they occasionally need to be culled, either due to age or health reasons that compromise their productive performance. When culled, these ewes' carcasses need to be utilized in some way, often being sold for consumption. However, meat from older or culled animals is undervalued due to its sensory characteristics and is often considered of low quality and low acceptability by consumers. Despite the low consumption of this species' protein, there is potential for a sheep meat market in Brazil. Research evaluating sheep meat quality typically focuses on studies investigating differences in sex, slaughter age, breed, diet, and production systems, with the vast majority being conducted on lambs. Meanwhile, studies on adult sheep, especially cull ewes, are almost nonexistent in the scientific literature. This study was conducted using 12 cull ewes of the Santa Inês breed, from the sheep herd of the Animal Science Department at UFRPE, with an average age of 33 months and an average weight of 56 ± 6.99 kg. The objective was to characterize the qualitative and quantitative aspects of cull ewe carcasses intended for meat production. It was observed that more research is needed to evaluate cull ewe carcasses in order to define carcass grading guidelines for this category, focusing on differentiating conformation and quality standards.