Mutton qualities in Australian Merino sheep

Abstract

Measurements of body length, depth, and width, fore cannon length, mutton score, fold score, and body weight a t 5, 11, and 17 months are reported for Peppin Merino ewe lambs. Observations were made on two groups of lambs – 284 born in the spring of 1951 and 273 born in the autumn of 1952 – at the Trangie Agricultural Experiment Station of the New South Wales Department of Agriculture. Repeatability estimates are: body length, 0.61; body depth, 0.77; body width, 0.46; length of fore cannon, 0.63; mutton score, 0.64; and body weight, 0.71. On these data it is suggested that any additional measurement capacity is best exploited in other directions. With two exceptions, there is a significant positive correlation between all pairs of characters studied: fold score is negatively correlated with mutton score and has no correlation with other parameters; no significant correlation is apparent between mutton score and cannon length. Mean values for body characters are recorded. Weight at 11 months is recommended as the best of the measures tested of mutton quality in Merinos.