ConclusionsThe variations among the meat characteristics in lambsslaughtered at different ages and seasons were observed.The increase of the lamb slaughter age from 45 to 60 daysresulted in an improvement in the commercial cuts of theshoulder and loin, the majority of the carcass measure-ments, the adiposity and conformation of shoulder and legand the lean/fat ratio as an index of the carcass tissues’proportion. Furthermore, the increase in the chronologicalage increased the collagen maturity and the HLP concentra-tion in the SM muscle lambs, which could affect the meattenderness.Although the breeding system of lambs in the two sea-sons (winter and spring) has been fairly standardised, theslaughter season markedly influenced several parameters.Overall, the best results were obtained from the lambsslaughtered in the spring and were maximised with aslaughter age of 60 days. In particular, the lambs slaugh-tered in the spring at 60 days showed the greatest liveweight, good percentages of commercial cuts and develop-ment of carcass measurements, greater levels of adiposityand better conformations of the shoulder and leg, with-out substantial differences in the colorimetric indices of themeat. The age and the slaughter season were not associatedwith the differences in carcass dressing percentages, thephysical and chemical composition and the colorimetricindices.This study indicated that the breeding system for theproduction of the traditional light lamb meat has to con-sider the effects that the slaughter age and slaughter seasonhave on the carcass characteristics and meat quality andsupport the recommendation of using 60 days as theslaughter age of the lambs of the Leccese breed.