A comparison of crossbred calves by Simmental and Friesian sires for some beef production traits

1978 ◽  
Vol 18 (93) ◽  
pp. 488
Author(s):  
DR Gifford ◽  
TJ Clark
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Production Traits ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Muscle Area ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Beef Cow ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Mixed Age ◽  
Calving Performance

Hereford cows of mixed age and from the same herd in the south-east of South Australia, were mated to Simmental and Friesian sires in two consecutive years. Calving performance of 129 females and growth and carcase characteristics of their progeny were examined. Breed-of-sire differences in calving assistance and calf deaths were not significant. Assistance was given in 4.5 and 6.5 per cent of the Simmental and Friesian calvings respectively over the two calf drops. The percentage of calves dead at birth, or within twenty-four hours of birth, sired by Simmental and Friesian sires was 8.8 and 10.9 per cent respectively. Both before and after weaning, the growth rates of progeny sired by Simmental and Friesian bulls were similar, except in one pre-weaning period when the Simmental cross steers grew significantly faster than the Friesian cross steers. At both the 8 to 9- and 20 to 21 -month-old slaughterings, steers of either parentage had similar carcase weight, length and fat cover. However, the Simmental cross carcases had a significantly larger eye-muscle area. At both slaughterings, carcases of both crosses were leaner than desired by the local Adelaide market. We concluded that sires of the Simmental and Friesian breeds may be suitable as terminal sires in crossbreeding programmes, but that their role in the production of first-cross cows from the traditional purebred beef cow herds needs investigating.

Growth and carcase characteristics of Simmental × Friesian and Friesian × Friesian cattle in a Mediterranean environment

1979 ◽  
Vol 19 (101) ◽  
pp. 652 ◽  
Author(s):  
DR Gifford ◽  
PC Stephen
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Similar Rate ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mediterranean Environment ◽  
Muscle Area ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Friesian Cattle ◽  
Calving Performance ◽  
Friesian Cows

The calving performance of 152 Friesian cows, located on two properties in the southern Adelaide Hills region of South Australia and mated to Simmental and Friesian sires, is reported. The growth of their steer and heifer progeny and the carcase characteristics of the steer progeny are also reported. Differences due to breed of sire in the incidence of both assisted calvings and calf deaths at birth were not significant on either property. The number of assisted calvings ranged from 1 in 36 calvings for Friesian x Friesian to 3 in 31 calvings for the Simmental x Friesian, both recorded on the same property. The Simmental x Friesian progeny were always significantly heavier at birth than the Friesian progeny. On one property, the Simmental x Friesian and Friesian x Friesian steers grew at a similar rate from weaning at approximately 11 weeks of age until slaughter at approximately 32 months of age, at which stage their carcases did not differ significantly in weight, length, fat cover and eye muscle area. On the other property, the Simmental x Friesian steers grew significantly faster from weaning to slaughter than did the Friesian x Friesian steers. When slaughtered at approximately 34 months of age, the Simmental x Friesian carcases were heavier (P < 0.001 ) and had a larger eye muscle area (P < 0.001 ) than the Friesian x Friesian steers, but there were no significant differences in length or fat cover. The carcases of both breed types were leaner than required by the local Adelaide market and steers would need to be slaughtered at heavier liveweights than those used in this study for acceptable levels of carcase fatness to be achieved.

Charolais, Friesian and British beef sires for beef production in a Mediterranean environment

1976 ◽  
Vol 16 (82) ◽  
pp. 613
Author(s):  
DR Gifford ◽  
PC Stephens ◽  
AL Pullman
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Mediterranean Environment ◽  
Beef Breed ◽  
Upper South ◽  
Similar Growth ◽  
Calving Performance

British beef breed cow herds, located in the Adelaide Hills and upper south-east areas of South Australia, were mated to Charolais, Friesian and British beef breed sires in two consecutive years. Calving performance of 477 cows and growth and carcase characteristics of the progeny were examined. Assistance at calving was given in 2.7 per cent of the total number of Charolais calvings, 0.7 per cent of purebred calvings and none of the Friesian calvings. The percentage of stillborn calves, and calves dead within twenty-four hours of parturition, sired by Charolais, Friesian and British breed sires was 5.3, 4.6 and 3.7 per cent respectively. Charolais - and Friesian-cross progeny had similar growth rates in both the pre- and post-weaning periods but both crossbreds grew significantly faster than the purebred British breed progeny. When slaughtered at 8 to 10 months of age, Charolais-cross steers yielded significantly more meat than the purebred steers, but at that age, both the Charolais- and Friesian-cross carcases were often too lean (range in depth of backfat of 0.10 to 0.54 cm) to be suitable for the Adelaide market. We concluded that Charolais and Friesian crossbred progeny grow faster and mature later than British breed progeny in the environment studied here, and that both breeds may prove valuable as terminal sires in systematic crossbreeding programmes.

BEEF PRODUCTION ON PASTURE AND LUCERNE

1974 ◽  
pp. 73-79
Author(s):  
B.G. Croy ◽  
W.C. Weeda
Keyword(s):  
Conversion Efficiency ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
The Other ◽  
Stocking Rate ◽  
Beef Production ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Two Generations ◽  
Successive Generations

In 1971-3 and 1972-4 two successive generations of Friesian male weaners were carried to slaughter on two self-contained farmlets, one all pasture, the other with half its area in pasture and half in lucerne. The pasture farmlet produced slightly less herbage dry matter than the pasture/lucerne farmlet. Average net hot carcass production was 922 and 829 kg/ha/yr respectively. The stocking rate was 4.85 animals/ha with an overlap of two generations from November to February. Herbage yields and animal intakes were estimated by before and after grazing cuts. The lucerne was grazed at a 40-day rotation in its growing season. To obtain high cattle growth rates, much stalk was left ungrazed, being 15 to 20% of the total dry matter standing before grazing above a height of 3 to 4 cm. Overall conversion efficiency of ingested forage was lower on the lucerne/pasture farmlet than on the pasture farmlet and it was also more variable on the former. With the grazing rotation and pressure adopted in this trial, bloat was no serious problem.

Growth and carcass characteristics of Wagyu-sired steers at heavy market weights following slow or rapid growth to weaning

2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 951 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Cafe ◽  
H. Hearnshaw ◽  
D. W. Hennessy ◽  
P. L. Greenwood
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Slow Growth ◽  
Average Daily Gain ◽  
Carcass Characteristics ◽  
Carcass Weight ◽  
Muscle Area ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Similar Composition ◽  
Daily Gain

Two groups of Wagyu × Hereford steers grown slowly (slow preweaning group, n = 14, mean average daily gain = 631 g/day) or rapidly (rapid preweaning group, n = 15, mean average daily gain = 979 g/day) from birth to weaning were backgrounded on improved, temperate pasture to equivalent group liveweights (543 v. 548 kg, s.e. = 8.8 kg), then finished in a feedlot for 120 days. At weaning, the slow preweaning group was 79 kg lighter than the rapid preweaning group. They required an additional 43 days of backgrounding to reach the same feedlot entry weight as the rapid preweaning group. The slow preweaning group grew more rapidly during backgrounding (630 v. 549 g/day, s.e. = 13.7 g/day) but tended to grow more slowly during feedlotting (1798 v. 1982 g/day, s.e. = 74.9 g/day) than their rapid preweaning counterparts, with overall growth rates from weaning to feedlot exit not differing between the 2 groups (rapid 763 g/day v. slow 772 g/day, s.e. = 17.5 g/day). At slaughter, following the feedlot phase, carcass weights of the 2 groups did not differ significantly (rapid 430 kg v. slow 417 kg, s.e. = 7.2 kg). There was a tendency for the steers grown slowly to weaning to have a higher dressing percentage (57.6 v. 56.6%, s.e. = 0.33%), but there were no significant differences in carcass compositional characteristics between the 2 groups. The slow preweaning steers did have a greater eye muscle area than the rapid preweaning steers (106.6 v. 98.9 cm2, s.e. = 1.87) when carcass weight was used as a covariate. These findings demonstrate that cattle grown slowly to weaning have similar composition at slaughter as those grown rapidly during the same period when backgrounded on pasture to the same feedlot entry weight. Furthermore, marbling was not adversely affected by slow growth to weaning.

The influence of feeding level and type of feed on the carcasses of steers

1982 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 721 ◽  
Author(s):  
RJ Sully ◽  
JHL Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Group ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Subcutaneous Fat ◽  
Fat Content ◽  
Appraisal System ◽  
Muscle Area ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Feeding Level ◽  
Total Fat

In an experiment started in June 1976, 14-16-month-old Hereford steers weighing 300 kg were allocated to five treatments. Cattle in four of the treatment groups, viz. high (H), medium (M), low (L) and low-high (L-H) growth rates were held in feedlots and offered whole oats supplemented with linseed meal, hay and minerals to obtain growth rates of 1.0, 0.7, 0.4 and 0.4-1.0 kg day-1 respectively. Steers in the fifth treatment group were grazed on pasture (P) to gain weight at 0.7 kg day-1 and received no supplements. Each treatment group of 10 steers was slaughtered at a mean liveweight of 450 kg. The carcasses of H steers were shorter, had more total fat and a greater depth of fat at the 12-13th rib than those of the L steers (fat depths of H, M and L groups were 10.1, 8.6 and 7.1 mm). The H steers also had a larger eye muscle area, a higher ABCAS (Australian Beef Carcase Appraisal System) score and higher carcass grades than the L steers. The L-H treatment appeared to reduce the fat content of the total side relative to the M treatment but the treatment was confounded with differences in carcass gain and carcass weight. Pasture grazing reduced carcass fat content as compared with grain feeding (15.2 v. 18.6%; P c 0.05), but differences in depth and weight of subcutaneous fat in the carcass side or in individual cuts were not significant. There was no detectable difference in tenderness due to level of feeding or feed type. Separately, the effects of feeding level and grain feeding increased carcass fatness by 16 and 22% respectively; we suggest that these effects are of commercial importance, particularly if the combined effects are additive.

Growth and carcass characteristics of prime lambs fed diets containing urea, lupins or canola meal as a crude protein source

2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (10) ◽  
pp. 1193 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Wiese ◽  
C. L. White ◽  
D. G. Masters ◽  
J. T. B. Milton ◽  
R. H. Davidson
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Control Diet ◽  
Carcass Characteristics ◽  
Poor Performance ◽  
Canola Meal ◽  
Muscle Area ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Cereal Grain ◽  
Alternative Sources

Lupin grain typically provides the main source of protein in most lamb finisher diets in Western Australia. The aim of this work was to determine whether alternative sources of nitrogen could provide a less expensive means of achieving the desired rate of liveweight gain and carcass characteristics. Fifty-one crossbred lambs were finished using 3 different sources of crude protein. These sources were either: (i) a control diet consisting of lupins, oats, barley and cereal chaff in which lupins provided 49% of the nitrogen (lupin diet); (ii) a diet consisting of a combination of cereal grain and urea (urea diet); or (iii) a diet in which lupins were partially replaced with expeller canola meal (canola diet). Diets were isonitrogenous (14.4% crude protein) and isoenergetic (10.5 MJ ME/kg DM). Lambs were gradually introduced to the diets over 2 weeks before being fed the diets ad�libitum for 5 weeks.Lambs fed the canola diet performed the best in terms of feed intake and liveweight gain while those fed the urea diet performed the worst. Respective growth rates for sheep fed the canola, lupin and urea diets were 272, 233 and 180 g/day, respectively, with significant (P<0.05) differences only between the canola and urea diets. Equivalent dry matter intakes for the 3 groups were 1660, 1570 and 1380 g/day respectively, with sheep fed the urea diets being significantly (P<0.05) lower than the other two. Acidosis was considered to be a major cause of the poor performance of sheep fed the urea diet, with 3 sheep from this treatment showing inappetance and markedly reduced growth rates ('shy feeders'). Lambs finished on all 3 diets produced acceptable carcasses. Carcass weights followed the trend of growth rates, but there were no significant differences between diets in carcass weight, dressing percentage, GR tissue depth, C�site fat depth, eye muscle area, muscle pH or meat colour. At the price of the feeds used in this trial, the canola meal diet was the cheapest feed per kilogram of liveweight gain despite being the most costly diet per tonne of feed.

Divergent genotypes for fatness or residual feed intake in Angus cattle. 2. Body composition but not reproduction was affected in first-parity cows on both low and high levels of nutrition

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Laurence ◽  
J. M. Accioly ◽  
K. J. Copping ◽  
M. P. B. Deland ◽  
J. F. Graham ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Feed Intake ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Residual Feed Intake ◽  
Pregnancy Rates ◽  
Research Centre ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Cooperative Research ◽  
Muscle Area ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Selection For

This paper reports a subset of results from the Beef Cooperative Research Centre-funded Maternal Productivity Project. This research aimed to describe the response of Angus cows of different and divergent genotypes to variable nutritional environments over five breeding seasons. Cows selected for a divergence in either fat depth (HFat vs LFat) or residual feed intake (RFI: HRFI vs LRFI) based on mid-parent estimated breeding values (EBV) for those traits were allocated in replicate groups to either high or low nutritional treatments at two different sites, namely the Vasse Research Centre in Western Australia and the Struan Research Centre in South Australia. The traits reported in this paper include output traits (birth and weaning weight of calves, liveweight change of cows), change traits (change in Rib Fat, P8 fat, eye muscle area and liveweight between specified time points) and reproductive traits [pregnancy rates, percentage calves born alive and days to calving at the days to calving at the second calving opportunity (DC2)]. Having had their first calf, the vulnerability of these young cows to nutritional restriction and how it may adversely affect rebreeding was examined. HFat and HRFI cows were fatter, heavier and had greater eye muscle area than LFat and LRFI, respectively, at all times during the breeding cycle on both levels of nutrition. There was no difference in either days-to-calving or pregnancy rates after the second mating between genotypes. Equally, nutritional treatment had no effect on these traits in this cohort of cows. There was evidence for an implied genetic correlation between Rib Fat EBV, DC2 and pregnancy rates of –0.38 that suggests that selection for leanness may result in reduced fertility of the herd but the effect was not significant herein. As long as producers record the phenotype for both traits and select cows with favourable DC2 as well as low fatness, these problems can be avoided, owing to only 22% of variation in pregnancy rates being explained by DC2 and Rib Fat EBV. Producers can largely be confident that selection for leanness, or increased feed efficiency, has little impact on productivity as long as cows are in adequate body condition to remain healthy and productive.

A comparison between Friesian bulls and steers on pasture for lean meat production

1976 ◽  
Vol 16 (80) ◽  
pp. 297 ◽  
Author(s):  
FJ Mickan ◽  
GW Thomas ◽  
SA Spiker
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Lower Percentage ◽  
Meat Production ◽  
Muscle Area ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Lean Meat ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Percentage Yield ◽  
Dressing Percentage

Growth rate and carcase characteristics were compared for Friesian bulls and steers fed solely on pasture and set stocked at 4.9 animals ha-1 Over a period of 11 3 weeks the animals achieved a mean liveweight gain of 0.5 kg animal-1 day-1. At this level of nutrition no significant difference in the growth rates of the bulls and steers was evident. However, the bulls had a higher dressing percentage (3.4 per cent), a higher percentage yield of meat (5.5 per cent), a lower percentage yield of trim (2.3 per cent), a lower percentage yield of bone (3.1 per cent), a larger eye muscle area (4.9 cm2), a greater carcase weight (1 7 kg), and a greater weight of saleable meat (24.1 kg). The steers had a higher percentage of total carcase in the hindquarter (3.6 per cent).

Selection for increased muscling is not detrimental to maternal productivity traits in Angus cows

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 185 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Cafe ◽  
W. A. McKiernan ◽  
D. L. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Body Composition ◽  
Live Birth ◽  
Muscle Area ◽  
Eye Muscle ◽  
Weaning Weight ◽  
Myostatin Gene ◽  
Beef Cow ◽  
High Line ◽  
Breeding Cycles ◽  
Selection For

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of selection for increased muscling on maternal productivity of a temperate beef cow herd. Cows of predominantly Angus breeding were selected using visual muscle score (1–15 scale, where 1 = lightest and 15 = heaviest muscling) into low- and high-muscled animals, and mated to Angus bulls with low or high muscularity. Initially, low-muscled cows were mated to low-muscled bulls to create the Low line, and high-muscled bulls and cows were mated to create the High line. On discovering that some High cattle carried the myostatin (821 del11) gene, a second High line was created to distinguish between cattle with no copies of the myostatin gene (High line) and those with one copy (HighHet line). Data from 12 breeding cycles, consisting of 2003 joining records, and 1713 resulting weaning records were analysed to assess maternal productivity. Cows from the three lines were similar in weight (547, 548 and 550 kg, P = 0.9), but varied in body composition – from Low to High to HighHet cows, muscling traits increased and fatness traits decreased (all P < 0.001). Compared with Low cows, High cows had a 4.4 units higher muscle score, 10% higher eye muscle area and 21% less fat, and HighHet cows had a 7.1 units higher muscle score, 17% higher eye muscle area and 45% less fat. There were no significant effects of selection for increased muscling on live birth or weaning rates, or weaning weight (all P > 0.1). Dystocia levels of Low and HighHet maidens or cows did not differ significantly, but High maidens or cows had less dystocia (P = 0.013). Low, High and HighHet cows weaned 218, 225 and 216 kg of calf/cow joined.year, indicating similar maternal productivity.

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