Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T01:48:57.108Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Comparison of seven ultrasonic techniques for in vivo estimation of beef carcass composition with special reference to performance testing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

S. J. Porter ,
M. G. Owen ,
S. J. Page  and
A. V. Fisher
S. J. Porter
Affiliation:
Meat and Livestock Commission, PO Box 44, Winterhill House, Snowdon Drive, Milton Keynes MK6 1AX
M. G. Owen
Affiliation:
Meat and Livestock Commission, PO Box 44, Winterhill House, Snowdon Drive, Milton Keynes MK6 1AX
S. J. Page
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Food Research, Bristol Laboratory, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DY
A. V. Fisher
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Food Research, Bristol Laboratory, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DY
Get access

Abstract

Forty-nine bulls, 27 Limousin × Friesian and 22 Charolais × Friesian, were evaluated and slaughtered in four batches of about equal size over 4 weeks. Each batch was of one breed. Age, live weight at evaluation and subjective assessments of fatness and conformation were recorded together with fat and muscle measurements by the Delphi, Meritronics, Scanogram, Vetscan, Kaijo Denki, Warren and the Velocity of Sound ultrasonic machines. Experienced operators were used to assess the performance of machine/operator combinations likely to be achieved in bull performance testing in the field. Fat thicknesses and areas, and m. longissimus areas were taken at the 10th rib and 13th rib, and 3rd lumbar regions by most machines. For the Delphi and Meritronics machines, fat thicknesses only were taken; for the Velocity of Sound machine, time interval measurements and anatomical distances were taken at the shoulder, mid back, lumbar and hind limb regions. The left side of each carcass was fully separated into lean, subcutaneous fat, intermuscular fat, bone and waste. All measurements were examined as potential predictors of carcass composition in step-wise regression in a model which included week of evaluation, breed and live weight at evaluation as the first independent variable. On the whole, scanning machines had a higher precision than A-mode machines, with the Velocity of Sound machine achieving the highest precision for carcass lean (g/kg) (residual s.d. = 13·0) and fat (g/kg) (residual s.d. = 14·1). None of the linear and area measurements taken on the carcass achieved the degree of precision of the Velocity of Sound, Scanogram and Vetscan machines.

Keywords

beef cattlecarcass compositionperformance testingultrasound.
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 51 , Issue 3 , December 1990 , pp. 489 - 495
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Evans, D. G. 1978. The interpretation and analysis of subjective body condition scores. Animal Production 26: 119–125.Google Scholar
Kempster, A. J. 1983. Cost-benefit analyses of in vivo estimates of body composition in meat animals. In In Vivo Measurements of Body Composition in Meat Animals (ed. Lister, D.), pp. 191–203. Elsevier Applied Science Publishers, London.Google Scholar
Kempster, A. J., Cook, G. L. and Smith, R. J. 1980. The evaluation of a standardized commercial cutting technique for determining breed differences in carcass composition. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 95: 431–440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kempster, A. J., Cuthbertson, A. and Harrington, G. 1982. Carcase Evaluation in Livestock Breeding, Production and Marketing. Granada Publishing, St. Albans.Google Scholar
Miles, C. A. 1978. Note on recent advances in ultrasonic scanning of animals. Proceedings of the 24th European Meat Research Workers' Congress, Kulmbach, pp. W13.3–W13.6.Google Scholar
Miles, C. A., Fursey, G. A. J. and York, R. W. R. 1984. New equipment for measuring speed of ultrasound and its application in the estimation of body composition of farm livestock. In Vivo Measurements of Body Composition in Meat Animals (ed. Lister, D.), pp. 93–105.Google Scholar
Simm, G. 1983. The use of ultrasound to predict the carcass composition of live cattle — a review. Animal Breeding Abstracts 51: 853–875.Google Scholar