Abstract:

Bamei lamb, a new species cultivated in Inner Mongolia, is of significant value for research. In the current study,
Bamei, Small-Tailed Han and Sunit lambs at 4, 6 and 8 months of age were chosen. A slaughter experiment with 10 lambs of
each sex for each breed was conducted. Comparison of slaughtering characteristics and carcass quality between both sexes
was carried out as well. Dressing percentage in female Bamei lambs was higher than in male ones at the age of 4 months
(P ＜ 0.05). Meanwhile, female Bamei lambs had larger loin eye area than did their male counterparts and both sexes of the
other lamb breeds at the age of 4 months (P ＜ 0.05). Six-month-old male Bamei lambs had significantly higher dressing
percentage than did their Small-Tailed Han counterparts (P ＜ 0.05) and presented significantly larger loin eye area than
did their female counterparts from the same breed. Meanwhile, male Bamei lambs aged 6 and 8 months had significantly
higher levels of loin eye area and back meat thickness than did male and female Small-Tailed Han and Sunit lambs of the
same ages, respectively (P ＜ 0.05). As the age increased, dressing percentage in both genders of Bamei was significantly
increased from 4 to 6 months old (P ＜ 0.05), and pure meat percentage was significantly increased from 4 to 8 months old
(P ＜ 0.05). Moreover, loin eye area in female Bamei lambs and back meat thickness in male Bamei lambs both from 4 to
8 months old were also significantly increased (P ＜ 0.05). However, a significant increase in loin eye area and back meat
thickness was observed for male and female Bamei lambs from 4 to 6 months, respectively (P ＜ 0.05).

Key words: Bamei lamb, gender, slaughtering performance, carcass quality