AbstractForty-eight sucking lambs (26 males and 22 females) of the Manchega breed were used in this work. Lambs were slaughtered at 10, 12 and 14 kg live weight. Carcass degree of fatness was assessed by three assessors from colour photographs of the carcasses, using the European Union scale for light lambs (EU), the Colomer-Rocher method (CF) and another new scale developed by our group (sucking lambs scale, SL). Carcass conformation was assessed according to the Colomer-Rocher method (CC). Fatness and conformation scales were divided to give 0·25 points in each interval. Left half-carcasses were jointed and dissected into lean, fat and bone. Muscle proportion, bone proportion and whole fat proportion (obtained by addition of every fat depot: subcutaneous fat, intermuscular fat, inguinal fat and kidney knob and channel fat) were determined. Male and female carcasses showed a very different tissue composition: both groups had statistically significant differences (P < 0·05) in 20 out of 25 tissue composition variates. Males showed a higher number of variates that were well correlated with assessors’ scoring than females. Correlation coefficients between most of the tissue composition variates and assessors’ scores were higher in males. Furthermore, the number of variates that were significantly correlated with assessors’ scores was lower in females. Therefore, subjective methods for the estimation of carcass degree of fatness and of carcass conformation are poor predictors of tissue composition in female sucking lamb carcasses.