FEEDLOT AND CARCASS TRAITS OF STEERS OF THE HIGHLAND AND HEREFORD BREEDS AND THEIR RECIPROCAL CROSSES

1975 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-177
Author(s):  
J. E. LAWSON

Calves of the Hereford breed, and the Highland × Hereford and Hereford × Highland crosses surpassed those of the Highland in final feedlot weight, average daily gain in the feedlot, cold carcass weight, and dressing percentage. The fat thickness over the eye muscle was significantly less in the Highland than in the other groups; however, when considered as thickness of fat per 100 kg of cold carcass no important breed differences existed. Although area of eye muscle did not differ between any of the breeds and crosses, the Highland had greater area of eye muscle per 100 kg of cold carcass. Calves were slaughtered when the majority of the Herefords were judged, visually, to have reached "choice" or "good" grades. The percentage of animals achieving grades of choice or good was less for the Highland than for the other three groups. Heterosis effects were 6.3, 5.7, 7.1, 1.2, and 5.2% for final feedlot weight, feedlot average daily gain, cold carcass weight, dressing percent, and intramuscular fat. Although the percent heterosis for area of eye muscle and fat thickness over the eye muscle was 4.4 and 5.8, the advantage was in favor of the straightbreds over the reciprocal crosses (5.3%) when considered in terms of area of eye muscle per 100 kg of cold carcass weight. The two crossbred groups were similar to the Hereford, while the Highland was inferior to all three groups in overall performance for the traits in this study.

1976 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. LAWSON ◽  
H. F. PETERS

The 1/4-Brahman bull calves exceeded those of the cattalo and Hereford by 19.6 and 14.8% in weaning weight. However, the Hereford surpassed the 1/4-Brahman and the cattalo by 11.1 and 14.9% in feedlot average daily gain. Cattalo (cattle × bison species cross) bulls weighed 17.7 and 12.0% less than 1/4-Brahman and Hereford bulls just before slaughter at an average age of 425 days. Similar differences were apparent for cold carcass weight. When age-of-dam and age-at-slaughter were covariate factors, area of the longissimus dorsi from 1/4-Brahman calves was larger by 13.5 and 8.7% than those from cattalo and Hereford. Fat thickness over the 1. dorsi did not differ among groups. Carcass weight and age at slaughter were covariates for the weights of meat cuts. Weights of loin, round, or plate cuts did not differ among groups. However, the rib cut from the 1/4-Brahman was lighter than that from the cattalo and Hereford, and the chuck cut was heavier. The Hereford exceeded the 1/4-Brahman in total weight of the more expensive rib–loin–round cuts. Warner-Bratzler shear estimates of tenderness did not differ among groups. Average fat thickness over the 1. dorsi was not significantly correlated to any of the means of the shear test on raw or broiled samples. In general, 1/4-Brahman and Hereford groups each exhibited superiority over the other two groups for several traits, while cattalo bulls did not exceed the other two groups in any of the traits considered in this study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 465-483
Author(s):  
Alessandro Lima Machado ◽  
Ariana Nascimento Meira ◽  
Evandro Neves Muniz ◽  
Hymerson Costa Azevedo ◽  
Luiz Lehmann Coutinho ◽  
...  

Abstractµ-calpain (CAPN1) and calpastatin (CAST) genes play key roles in protein turnover. The present study aimed to identify the variants in these genes associated with growth and ultrasound carcass traits in Santa Inês sheep. A sample of 192 no full sibling Santa Inês lambs was used. Fragments of the CAST and CAPN1 genes were amplified and next-generation sequencing was performed in the MiSeq platform. Variants in the CAPN1 and CAST sequences were then detected using bioinformatic tools. Withers and croup heights, body length, thoracic and croup widths, thoracic and leg girths, body depth, carcass fat score, rib eye area, fat thickness, body weights were recorded at weaning and at 140 days post-weaning, and average daily gain post-weaning was calculated. Both single-locus and haplotype association analyses were performed with the model as follows: farm (2 levels), year (4 levels), the month of birth (12 levels), and the covariate age of the animal. The fragments amplified included 4,514 bp between the 20th and 23rd exons of CAST as well as 3,927 bp between the 12th and 21st exons of CAPN1. In these regions, 58 (CAST) and 45 (CAPN1) variants were identified. In the CAST gene, the single-locus analysis revealed 22 suggestive additive effects (P<0.05) on several growth and carcass traits. Moreover, haplotype substitutions were associated with rib eye area (–0.689±0.290), average daily gain (–23.6±10.4), thoracic girth (–2.72±1.27), body length (–3.38±1.49), and leg girth (–2.84±1.37). Regarding the CAPN1 gene, the single-locus analysis identified seven suggestive additive effects, while only one haplotype replacement effect on fat thickness (–0.0143±0.0053) was detected. The results of the present study suggest that variants in the CAPN1 and CAST genes are associated with growth and ultrasound carcass traits in Santa Inês sheep, which may be a source of information to improve knowledge regarding the genetic control of these traits.


2002 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Goonewardene ◽  
E. Okine ◽  
N. Patrick ◽  
D. Patrick ◽  
P. A. Day ◽  
...  

Growth, efficiency and carcass traits were evaluated for goats fed barley or a concentrate mix (CM). Goats on the CM showed higher (P < 0.01) average daily gain (ADG) (27.5%), end of test weight (11.6%), hot carcass weight (HCW) (14.9%) and rib-eye area (REA) (14.7%), lower (P < 0.02) concentrate to gain ratio (CG) ratio (22.5%) and no differences (P > 0.05) in concentrate intake (CI) and dressing percent (DP), compared to those on barley. Although feeding the CM improved ADG, CG, HCW and REA, it may be relatively more economical to finish goats on whole barley grain. Key words: Goat, high energy, high protein, growth, rib-eye area


1999 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. Crews Jr. ◽  
R. A. Kemp

Preweaning and carcass trait records from crossbred steers (n = 1015) and heifers (n = 957) were used to estimate genetic parameters and to investigate the efficacy of maternal effects and preweaning growth information for improving estimation of EBV for carcass traits for crossbred beef cattle. Dams (n = 775) representing three F1 and twelve back-cross combinations involving the Charolais, Hereford, Angus, Simmental and Shorthorn breeds were mated over six years to Limousin bulls (n = 36) at two locations in western Canada. Four animal models, involving from zero to three maternal (co)variances were used to analyze four carcass traits. Rank and simple correlations indicated that maternal effects were relatively unimportant for estimation of direct carcass trait breeding values. Direct heritabilities were 0.28, 0.12 and 0.16 for birth weight, preweaning daily gain and weaning weight, and were 0.20, 0.35, 0.50 and 0.38 for hot carcass weight, fat thickness, ribeye area and percent lean yield, respectively. Maternal heritabilities were 0.21, 0.22 and 0.40 for birth weight, preweaning daily gain and weaning weight, respectively. Estimated genetic correlations between percent lean yield and hot carcass weight, fat thickness and ribeye area were –0.05, –0.85 and 0.39, respectively, and 0.30 between hot carcass weight and ribeye area. Direct genetic effects for birth weight had moderate (0.51 to 0.54) correlations with direct effects for carcass weight, ribeye area and percent lean yield. Direct genetic effects for fat thickness were negatively correlated with direct effects for birth weight (−0.44), preweaning daily gain (−0.15) and weaning weight (−0.25). Maternal genetic effects for preweaning traits had near-zero correlations with direct genetic effects for fat thickness and percent lean yield. Adding preweaning growth information to genetic evaluations for carcass traits slightly decreased prediction error variances for breeding values and would be recommended when information on carcass traits is limited. Key words: Genetic evaluation, carcass traits, beef cattle


2006 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 951 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Cafe ◽  
H. Hearnshaw ◽  
D. W. Hennessy ◽  
P. L. Greenwood

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.


1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 171 ◽  
Author(s):  
JM Thompson ◽  
R Barlow

The effect of sire breed on the growth and development of carcass characteristics was examined in 104 steer carcasses, over the weight range of c. 300 to 600 kg liveweight. The carcasses were obtained from 28 straightbred Hereford, 27 Brahman x Hereford, 23 Simmental x Hereford and 26 Friesian x Hereford steers, which were grown on pasture and slaughtered in four groups when the Herefords weighed c. 270, 370, 470 and 570 kg liveweight. Changes in carcass characteristics with weight were examined by using the linear form of the allometric equation (log10Y = log10A+blog10X). As liveweight increased, the proportion of carcass in the body increased (b = 1.152). At the same liveweight, Brahman cross steers had heavier carcasses than the Hereford steers, which were heavier than either the Simmental or Friesian cross steers (P < 0.05). Fat thickness at the 12th-13th rib site, and kidney and channel fat weight both increased at a proportionally faster rate than carcass weight (b = 1.511 and 1 567 respectively). At the same carcass weight, Hereford and Brahman cross carcasses had a greater fat thickness than Simmental and Friesian cross carcasses (P i 0.05). Differences between sire breeds in kidney and channel fat weight were not significant (P > 0.05). C:rcass length and eye muscle area increased at a proportionally slower rate than carcass weight (b = 0.268 and 0.466 respectively). At the same carcass weight, Friesian cross carcasses were longer, and Simmental cross carcasses had a larger eye muscle area than the other breed crosses (P < 0.05). As total side weight increased, the proportions of subcutaneous and intermuscular fatAincreased (b = 1.554 and 1.535 respectively), and the proportions of muscle and bone decreased (b = 0.938 and 0.676 respectively). At the same side weight, the Hereford and Brahman cross carcasses had more subcutaneous fat than the Simmental and Friesian cross carcasses (P < 0.05). The Hereford carcasses had more intermuscular fat than the Simmental cross carcasses, which had more muscle than the other breed crosses (P < 0.05). Friesian cross carcasses had more bone than the Simmental crosses, with Brahman cross and Hereford carcasses having the least bone (P < 0.05). Brahman cross carcasses had a higher conformation score than the Simmental cross and Hereford carcasses, the Friesian cross carcasses having the lowest (P < 0.05). Samples of the M. longissimus from Brahman cross carcasses had a higher Warner-Bratzler shear force than samples from the other breed crosses (P < 0.05).


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (8) ◽  
pp. 1759 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hesham Mohammed ◽  
Mohammed Nasr

The present study investigated the effect of gnawing sticks as environmental enhancers on the performance, carcass traits and behaviour of individually housed growing rabbits. Two batches of weaned New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits were used, each consisting of 135 animals. Rabbits were homogeneously classified into the following three groups, each consisting of 45 rabbits: rabbits housed individually in cages without enrichment (control), rabbits housed individually in cages enriched with wooden sticks from apple tree and rabbits housed individually in cages enriched with wooden sticks from willow tree. Rabbits reared in enriched cages with apple or willow sticks showed a significantly (P &lt; 0.0001) better performance (live bodyweight at slaughter 2526 and 2591 g, total weight gain 1620 and 1683 g, average daily gain 21.04 and 21.87 g and daily feed intake 78.57 and 74.89 g respectively), and had a higher carcass weight (1648.39 and 1750.26 g respectively, P &lt; 0.0001) than did the control group. Rabbits in apple-stick group had a higher daily feed intake (78.57 g, P &lt; 0.0001) and lower carcass weight (1648.39 g, P &lt; 0.0001) than did those in the willow-stick group. The cortisol concentration was significantly (P &lt; 0.0001) lower in apple and willow groups (9.44 ± 0.02 and 9.35 ± 0.02 nmol/L respectively) than in the control group (17.24 ± 0.03 nmol/L). Moreover, cage enrichment with apple or willow sticks improved the duration of feeding (7.08 and 7.39 min/3 h respectively, P &lt; 0.0001) and drinking (2.54 and 2.67 min/3 h respectively, P &lt; 0.0001) time, and reduced abnormal behaviour (biting the bars of the cage 0.24 and 0.34 min/3 h respectively, P = 0.001) when compared with the control group. Overall, the current results indicated that cage enrichment (with wooden sticks from apple or willow trees for gnawing) increased the final bodyweight and some carcass traits, reduced abnormal behaviour and potentially improved rabbit welfare during intensive rabbit breeding.


2020 ◽  
Vol 98 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 47-47
Author(s):  
Gabriel J Pent ◽  
Thomas B Wilson

Abstract Hulless varieties of barley have been developed to improve the digestibility of this small grain. The objective of this project was to determine the feeding value of hulless barley relative to corn in a beef-finishing ration. Angus-cross steers (n = 12) were fed rations that included varying ratios of cracked corn and cracked hulless barley. Steers were stratified by body weight (BW) and allotted to one of four rations: corn, 2:1 ratio of corn to barley, 1:2 ratio of corn to barley, and barley. All treatments included concentrate at 85% and baleage at 15% of total ration dry matter (DM). Rations were fed ad libitum on an individual basis using Calan gates. Feed refusals were measured daily. Steers were weighed and ultrasound 12th rib fat thickness (FT) was measured every 28 d. Steers were harvested at a commercial abattoir when average FT exceeded 0.9 cm. Average daily gain (1.2 kg/d), final BW (653 kg), feed to gain efficiency (10.2:1), and final ultrasound FT (0.94 cm) were not different (P ≥ 0.1486) between treatments. Steer DM intake was lower (P ≤ 0.0496) for those fed corn (9.8 kg/d) compared to those fed barley (12.2 kg/d) or a 1:2 ratio of corn to barley (11.7 kg/d); steer DM intake was similar (P ≥ 0.0640) for those fed a 2:1 ratio of corn to barley compared to those fed the other rations. Finishing ration did not affect hot carcass weight (384 kg; P = 0.7158), carcass FT (1.6 cm; P = 0.9511), ribeye area (87.7 cm^2; P = 0.7184), kidney, pelvic, and heart fat (2.6%; P = 0.3842), and yield grade (3.5; P= 0.8802). Feeding hulless barley compared to corn resulted in similar performance and carcass characteristics when included in beef finishing rations although feed intake was greater when barley exceeded 56% of the ration DM.


2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 170-170
Author(s):  
Edson Luis de A Ribeiro ◽  
Francisco Fernandes Jr ◽  
Camila Constantino ◽  
Fernando Augusto Grandis ◽  
Natália Albieri Koritiaki ◽  
...  

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and meat characteristics of castrated and intact Santa Inês male lambs slaughtered at three different thicknesses of subcutaneous fat. Thirty-four lambs, approximately 3 months of age, 19.37 ± 3.73 kg of body weight were used. Four weeks prior to the experiment, half of the animals were castrated. Lambs were further divided into three groups, according to the criteria for slaughter: fat thicknesses of 1, 3 and 6 mm; measured with an ultrasound equipment. All animals received the same diet. Criteria of 1 and 3 mm were achieved after 39 and 84 days in feedlot. As the criterion of 6 mm was not attained up to 130 days of confinement, lambs were slaughtered at that time, with 4 mm of fat thickness. Fat thickness measured with a caliper on the carcasses were 0.87, 3.11 and 3.60 mm. There were no interactions (P > 0.05) between sexual conditions and slaughter criteria. Average daily gain was similar (P > 0.05). Among criteria (average of 0.267 ± 0.052 kg/day). However, final body weight (29.94 ± 2.03; 40.42 ± 2.67 and 53.85 ± 2.03 kg) and feed conversion (4.17 ± 0.39; 4.71 ± 0.43 and 6.01 ± 0.39) were different (P0.05) among criteria, panelists found that lambs slaughtered with 3.6 mm of fat thickness were less (P < 0.05) desirable. Average daily gain (0.283 ± 0.013 vs 0.247 ± 0.012 kg) was greater (P < 0.05) for intact than castrated lambs; however, the meat of intact lambs was less desirable. The other traits were similar for both sexual conditions. We can conclude by the performance and meat results that it is better to slaughter Santa Inês lambs with 3 mm of fat cover, and for the best acceptability of the meat the lambs should be castrated.


1964 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Hidiroglou ◽  
L. A. Charette ◽  
J. S. Patterson

The influence of breed of sire on carcass traits was examined by studying data collected on 134 steers produced by mating Shorthorn cows with Shorthorn, Angus, Hereford, and Charolais bulls. The steers were fed out in two groups: one group was slaughtered at 18 to 23 months as they reached a live weight of 900–1000 lb and the other group at approximately 30 months of age. In each group the steers sired by Charolais bulls gained more rapidly, possessed more bone, produced heavier carcass weight, and showed largest eye muscle measurements. There were no appreciable differences among the crosses within the sire groups represented by the British breeds except that Hereford × Shorthorn surpassed Angus × Shorthorn and Shorthorn in growth rate significantly and for a slight superiority in marbling for the Angus compared with the Shorthorn.


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