Growth and the meat productivity of crossbred F1 from German Mutton Merino×Small Tail Han Sheep

The growth rate,meat productivity and meat quality of German Mutton Merino×Small Tail Han Sheep F1 were measured and analyzed.The results showed that the average birth weight of GMM × Han F1 was 4.10 kg,the ADG of 9 months and 12 months were 122.67 g and 110.80 g,which were significantly higher than Han Sheep(P0.05).The body length,chest circumference,chest depth,chest width and cannon circumference of hybrids were all larger than those of Han Sheep(P0 05).GR index was 1.42 cm,the loin eye area was 18.79 cm2,these figures are higher than Han Sheep(P0 05).The dressing percentage,the net mutton ratio and the meat percentage of carcass were 46.80 %,35.80 % and 76.47 % respectively,those of the GMM × Han F1 increased 5.40 %,6.40 % and 5.67 % compared with Han Sheep respectively.Evaluation of the meat showed that the meat colour was bright red(3.80 points) with apparent marbling,the percentage of cooked of hybrids(46.48 %) was higher than Han Sheep,but the shear force(3.34 kg) was significantly lower than Han Sheep(P0 05).