J. Anim Sci.
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J. Anim Sci. 1966. 25:342-347.
© 1966 American Society of Animal Science
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Feed Efficiency and Carcass Desirability in Swine1

D. K. Biswas, P. V. Hurt2, A. B. Chapman, N. L. First and H. L. Self3, 4,

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Abstract

Average daily gain and daily feed consumption, obtained from a total of 185 individually-fed straightbred and crossbred Yorkshire and Duroc pigs, were significantly positively correlated (0.76). Efficiency of feed utilization, expressed as the ratio of average daily gain to average daily feed consumption, was significantly positively correlated (0.24) with gain but negatively correlated (–.54) with feed consumption.

The signs and the levels of significance of the relationships of efficiency with gain and feed consumption remained unchanged, when efficiency was expressed as the ratio of gain (either unadjusted or adjusted for initial weight or initial weight and final weight) to feed consumption (adjusted for initial weight or initial weight and final weight). Feed efficiency was also expressed in this study as gain adjusted for feed consumption and as feed consumption adjusted for gain. For both of these estimates of efficiency, feed consumption was adjusted for mid-weight. These two measures were found to yield results that were highly correlated with the estimates of efficiency expressed as the ratio of gain to feed consumption adjusted for mid-weight.

The genetic correlations of daily gain with daily feed consumption and efficiency (ratio of gain to feed consumption) were 0.90±0.07 and 0.63±0.26, respectively, and that of efficiency with the feed consumption was 0.20±0.47.

Phenotypically, daily gain and feed consumption were negatively associated with percent lean cuts and positively correlated with carcass backfat. Efficiency was positively correlated with percent lean cuts and negatively with carcass backfat. Highly significant genetic correlations were found for carcass backfat with daily gain (1.06) and with daily feed consumption (1.02). A nonsignificant genetic correlation (0.06) was found between backfat and efficiency.

The above results indicate that selection for daily gain would probably result in improvement in feed efficiency, as well as in an increase in the amount of backfat. Hence, it would be necessary to consider both backfat and gain in selecting for animals with efficient production of desirable carcasses.

Footnotes

1 Published with the approval of the Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station. Paper No. 1024 from the Division of Genetics and No. 419 from the Department of Meat and Animal Science in cooperation with the Regional Swine Breeding Laboratory, AHRD, ARS, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

2 Present address: 1319 Roosevelt Avenue, Ames, Iowa.

3 Present address: Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

4 The authors wish to acknowledge the cooperation of Oscar Mayer and Company, Madison, Wisconsin, in obtaining carcass data.






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Copyright © 1966 by the American Society of Animal Science.