An Evaluation of Live Weight, Carcass and Hide Characteristics in Dromedary vs . Bactrian×Dromedary Crossbred Camels

Abstract

The aim followed in the present paper was to evalu ate the slaughter body and carcass weights as well as the characteristics of hide and leather in Dromedaries (one-hump) and in the crossbred (C. bactrianus×C. droedarius) camels. Fourteen camels from each sex (female and male) representing two genotypes at 21 months of age were utilized. Slaughter weight, hot and cold carcass weights, dre ssing-out percentage, wet and dry salting hide and leather properties were assessed. There were significant differences in slaughter weights between Dromedary and crossed typ es (339 ± 10.7 vs. 372 ± 11.1 kg) and as well between male vs. female camels (382 ± 9.7 vs . 326 ± 10.6 kg). Moreover, while the effect of sex was significant on wet hide weight (3 4 ± 1.2 vs . 29.3 ± 1.2 kg for males and females , respectively), the difference observed between male s and females regarding the thickness of hide was non-significant (P> 0.05). Br eaking force, tensile strength and elongation of the leather samples decreased with in crease in their thicknesses. It was found out that the obtained leather from the camel benefited from such valuable mechanical characteristics as tensile strength and extension with no variations being observed as due to the animal’s sex or genotype. Keywords: Camel, Carcass weight, Hide characteristics, Leathe r properties, Slaughter weight.