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Ultrasonic Measurement of Fattening Rate in Swine^{1, 2,}

U. S. Department of Agriculture and Iowa State University⁴, Ames

Abstract

An ultransonic device was used to estimate the rate of fat deposition at 4-week intervals, from 8 weeks of age to slaughter at a minimum weight of 90 kg. The ultrasonic fat measurements were adjusted for weight differences existing at the time the measurements were taken. Curves for both total fat and depth of the fascia were essentially linear with body weight during the period studied. Correlations between ultrasonic measurements at different time periods were positive but low, tending to be higher for adjacent time periods.

Correlations involving birth weight and ultrasonic measurements were low and negative, as were most of those involving feed efficiency in the individual 4-week periods. However, efficiency over the entire growing period did not appear correlated with ultrasonic measurements or mechanical probe at slaughter.

The early ultrasonic measurements were not correlated appreciably with carcass characteristics. However, correlations in the expected directions became increasingly strong during the later periods of growth.

¹ The carcass data were obtained through the cooperation of Geo. A. Hormel and Co., Fort Dodge, Iowa. 1

² Journal Paper No. J-5061 of the Iowa Agricultural and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project 1127.

³ Present address: Agricultural Experiment Station, University of New Hampshire, Durham.

⁴ Regional Swine Breeding Laboratory, AHRD, ARS, U.S.D.A., with headquarters at Ames, Iowa.