A relatively simple and rapid carcass analysis technique is described. First, water content is determined by drying the whole carcass. The dried carcass is then ground to a powder and the fat content is determined using an ether extraction method. The protein content is determined on the fat extracted material using a modification of the Biuret method. In this way, three separate methods are combined to provide an accurate but simple and rapid method for carcass water, fat and protein determinations. The usefulness of this method for behavioral studies involving large numbers of animals is discussed.