The objective of the experiment was to evaluate discarded ewes slaughtered at different physiological stages and terminated in feedlot for yields of carcass and cuts and the percentage of each non carcass component. Twenty-one Santa Inês ewes were used, with average age of six years old, distributed into the following treatments: EL = ewes that had remained in lactation for 60 days with their respective lambs until slaughtering; EWL = ewes that remained in lactation for 60 days with their respective lambs and a further 30 days approximately without lambs to recover lost of body weight during suckling, and were subsequently slaughtered; and ENC = ewes that remained in feedlot for 60 days and did not deliver during the year. The results obtained in this research showed that ewes that remained in feedlot for 60 days and did not deliver during the year presented higher hot (45.00) and cold (44.73%) carcass yields, compared to ewes that had remained in lactation for 60 days with their respective lambs until slaughtering (40.80 and 40.66%). Carcass cut (leg, loin, shoulderblade, ribs and neck) yields were similar among all ewes slaughtered in the different physiological conditions. Non carcass component yields were similar among the ewes slaughtered in different physiological stages, except for the liver, blood, udder and internal fat values.
discard females; dressing percentage; rib eye area; sheep
