Ultrasonic scanning of lamb carcasses for non-destructive carcass
quality measurements
D.B. Binnie, R.J. Farmer, J.N. Clarke
Genetics Section, AgResearch, Ruakura, PB 3123, Hamilton, New
Zealand
Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production. 1995,
55: 111-113
Eye muscle dimensions of meat and fat together with live or carcass
weight are important selection criteria for the improvement of carcass traits
in sheep. The use of B-mode ultrasound may offer scope for more efficient
progeny testing procedures. Two trials examined the use of ultrasound for
estimating eye muscle width (A) and depth (B) between the twelfth and
thirteenth ribs on live animals, and their carcasses immediately following
slaughter and up to nine hours later. These estimates were then compared
with ruler measurements on the eye muscle cut surfaces. Correlations
between the various estimates of B were high (r = 0.80 to 0.96). While the
correlation between the live scan of A and its ruler measurement was 0.75,
the correlations between carcass scans and ruler measurements were 0.40 to
0.61. This was due to difficulty in maintaining acoustic coupling over the
length of the probe, which was flat relative to the curved carcass surface. A
new curved offset offers excellent prospects for overcoming this problem.
Keywords: NZSAPAB;
eye muscle dimensions; carcass scanning; selection criteria
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Last Updated 25-01-1997
