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The use of a danscanner ultrasonic machine to predict the body composition of Hereford bulls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. C. Alliston
J. C. Alliston
Affiliation:
ARC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
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Abstract

Ultrasonic measurements, using a Danscanner, were taken of the m longissimus dorsi and overlying fat at the 10th and 13th ribs, and 3rd lumbar vertebra, of 50 Hereford bulls with ages ranging from 400 to 600 days, just prior to slaughter and side dissection.

The analysis adjusted the data for live weight and day of slaughter, and the precision of carcass lean and fat prediction was examined. The standard deviations of total fat and lean in the carcass at constant live weight were 40 and 33 g/kg respectively.

The best single measurement of fat depth for predicting fat proportion was fat depth taken 125 mm from the midline at the 13th rib (residual s.d. = 21·8g/kg). The best combined predictors of both total fat and lean proportions in the side were fat depth 125 mm from the midline at the 13th rib, fat depth 75 mm from the midline at the 3rd lumbar vertebra, and fat area at the 10th and 13th ribs, and 3rd lumbar vertebra, with residual s.d. of 20·5 and 19·6 g/kg for fat and lean proportions respectively.

The results confirm that ultrasonic scanning is now able to give a useful indication of the body composition of live cattle.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , December 1982 , pp. 361 - 365
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1982

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References

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