Prediction of kid carcass composition by use of joint dissection

Abstract Forty-seven Canary Caprine Group kids (6–15 kg body weight) were taken from the experimental flocks of Las Palmas de Gran Canarias University and the Canary Agronomic Science Institute and slaughtered. Their carcasses were halved and the left side was dissected into the major tissues. Linear regression analyses were used for predicting carcass tissue composition, using half carcass weight and joints tissue weights as independent variables. Taking account of the relative economic values of the joints, the most cost-effective predictor of carcass tissue composition was a combination of half carcass weight and shoulder dissection with an r 2 of 0.79, 0.81, 0.72 and 0.70 for muscle, bone, and subcutaneous and intermuscular carcass fat, respectively.