Rendimiento comercial de las categorías ternero, añojo y cebón de la raza bovina Serrana de Teruel

Abstract

The carcass quality from three commercial categories (yearling, bull and steer castrated at 9 months old) was studied within the framework of a recovery programme in the Serrana de Teruel breed. Age at slaughter was 12, 22 and 22 months, and live-weights were 470, 720 and 660 kg, in yearling, bull and steer, respectively. Twenty calves were managed under a conventional feeding programme of ad libitum concentrate and straw from 4 months old to slaughter, except between 15 and 20 months old, in which bulls and steers received ad libitum barley silage as forage supplemented with 3 kg of concentrate/head/day. The gain during the first year of age was 1.5 kg/day, whereas during the second year it was greater in bulls than in steers (1.1 vs. 0.9 kg/day), as a consequence of castration. Bull carcasses had greater dressing percentages and conformation scores and lower fatness degree than steers, confirming a castration-induced intramuscular fat deposition. Considering these results, Serrana de Teruel breed falls within the group of local Spanish bovine breeds. These studies should provide the conditions for a labelled beef product that allows the farmer’s survival and the assurance of Serrana de Teruel breed conservation for a long term.