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Use of Naturally Occurring Potassium-40 to Determine the Carcass Composition of Live Sheep

Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station and and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory^{1, 2,}

Abstract

Ten lambs were used to determine the usefulness of K⁴⁰ for predicting carcass composition from counts made on the live animals and their carcasses. It was found that washing the animals removed a significant amount of potassium contamination from the skin and wool of shorn lambs. The highest potassium concentrations were found in the separable lean tissue of the carcass with the bone and fat containing lesser amounts. No significant correlations were found between carcass composition and the gamma activity of the carcasses, partly because of the limited variability among the animals in comparison with the counting precision. Although significant correlations were found between the gamma activity of the live animals and their carcass composition, in general, these relationships did not appear high enough to be of practical importance.

¹ Journal Article 2789, Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, East Lansing.

² The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Montoya of Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory for their helpfulness throughout the experiment. The authors also express their thanks to Mr. Leslie S. Porter, County Agricultural Agent at LaJara, Colorado, and to Mr. J. R. Chavez, County Agricultural Agent at Sante Fe, New Mexico, for assistance in locating and purchasing the animals used in this study.