Carcass Merits, Chemical Composition and Physical Properties of Beef under Unconventional Fattening Regimen

This study aimed at studying the effect of replacing concentrates with corn silage on the carcass and meat quality traits of fattening calves. Twenty four calves of Egyptian Baladi cattle (local breed), 1 year of age and initially weighed 245 +/- 2.46 kg were randomly assigned to three equal groups (n = 8 each); Control (C) group that fed Concentrate Feed Mixture (CFM) and rice straw, the second and the third groups were fed CFM and corn silage at ratio of 50:50 (T1) and 25:75 (T2), respectively. After 7 months, five animals per each group were randomly selected for slaughtering. No significant differences among the three groups of carcass merits regarding the proportion of fore and hind quarters, eye muscle area, physical components of best ribs and meat/bone ratio. Also, lean contents of protein, intramuscular fat, moisture and collagen did not significantly differ. Shear force values, cooking loss percentage, expressible fluid percentage, color and pH after 3 and 24 h were not affected by silage replacements. This study indicated that utilizing corn silage instead of concentrate fed mixture either by 50 or 75% in the fattening ration of Baladi calves did not adversely affected the carcass and meat quality merits. These results may allow beef producers to produce meat with the same quality, low costs and consequently low prices compared to the existing traditional beef production systems.