Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T00:24:12.441Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of food quality on growth and carcass composition in lambs of two breeds and their cross

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2016

R. M. Lewis ,
J. M. Macfarlane ,
G. Simm  and
G. C. Emmans
R. M. Lewis*
Affiliation:
Sustainable Livestock Systems, Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences (0306), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061 USA
J. M. Macfarlane
Affiliation:
Sustainable Livestock Systems, Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
G. Simm
Affiliation:
Sustainable Livestock Systems, Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
G. C. Emmans
Affiliation:
Sustainable Livestock Systems, Scottish Agricultural College, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
*
† E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The effects of food quality, breed type and sex (ram and ewe) on lamb growth and carcass composition, and their changes throughout growth, were measured. The three breed types were Scottish Blackface (B; no. = 24), Suffolk (S; no. = 28) and their reciprocal crosses (X; no. 33). The lambs had free access to a nutritionally non-limiting food, H, or a bulky food, L. Each lamb was scanned using X-ray computed tomography to measure the weights of fat, lean and bone in the carcass at three degrees of maturity (0.30,0.45 and 0.65) in live weight. Live weight and food intake data were recorded weekly. Average daily gains in live weight (ADG) and carcass tissues, intake (ADI) and efficiency (EFF = ADG/ADI) were calculated for each lamb between degrees of maturity. Gompertz and Spillman functions were used to investigate relationships between weight and both time and cumulative food intake.

There was a breed by food interaction for fat and lean proportions (P < 0.05). Only on H was there a breed difference (P < 0.05) with S having less fat and more lean than either B or X, which did not differ from each other (P > 0.1). On food L there were no breed effects (P > 0.1). Across breeds, sexes and stages of maturity, food L caused lambs to have 0.810 as much fat and 1.063 as much lean compared with H (P < 0.001). There were breed by food interactions for ADG (P < 0.05) and EFF (P < 0.01). ADG on L was 0.72 of that on H for S, as compared with 0.79 for B and X. EFF on L was 0.463 of that on H for S, as compared with 0.586 for B and X. These were such that S was more sensitive to food effects on growth. The Gompertz and Spillman functions described growth well.

Keywords

carcass compositioncomputed tomographyfood intakegrowthsheep
Type
Breeding and genetics
Information
Animal Science , Volume 78 , Issue 3 , June 2004 , pp. 355 - 367
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 2004

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

Agricultural Research Council. 1980. The nutrient requirements of ruminants. Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, Slough. Google Scholar
Beauchemin, K. A., McClelland, L. A., Jones, S.D. M. and Kozub, G. C. 1995. Effects of crude protein-content, protein degradability and energy concentration of the diet on growth and carcass characteristics of market lambs fed high concentrate diets. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 75: 387–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler-Hogg, B. W. and Johnsson, I. D. 1986. Fat partitioning and tissue distribution in crossbred ewes following different growth paths. Animal Production 42: 65–72.Google Scholar
Butterfield, R. M., Griffiths, D. A., Thompson, J. M., Zamora, J. and James, A. M. 1983. Changes in body composition relative to weight and maturity in large and small strains of Australian Merino rams. 1. Muscle, bone and fat. Animal Production 36: 29–37.Google Scholar
Butterfield, R. M. and Thompson, J. M. 1983. Changes in body composition relative to weight and maturity of large and small strains of Australian Merino rams. 4. Fat depots and bones. Animal Production 37: 423–431.Google Scholar
Croston, D. and Pollott, G. 1994. Planned sheep production, second edition. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford.Google Scholar
Emmans, G. C. 1988. Genetic components of potential and actual growth. In Animal breeding opportunities (ed. Land, R. B. Bulfield, G. and Hill, W. G.), British Society of Animal Science occasional publication no. 12, pp. 153–181.Google Scholar
Emmans, G. C. 1997. A method to predict the food intake of domestic animals from birth to maturity as a function of time. Journal of Theoretical Biology 186: 189–199.Google Scholar
Emmans, G. C. and Friggens, N. C. 1995. The effects of live weight, and the quality of the feed given previously, on the ad libitum intakes of poor quality hay by sheep of 5 breeds of different mature weights. Annales de Zootechnie 44: (suppl.) 269.Google Scholar
Emmans, G. C. and Kyriazakis, I. 2000. Issues arising from genetic selection for growth and body composition characteristics in poultry and pigs. In The challenge of genetic change in animal production (ed. Hill, W. G. Bishop, S. C. McGuirk, B. McKay, J. C. Simm, G. and Webb, A. J.), British Society of Animal Science occasional publication no. 27, pp. 39–53.Google Scholar
Freking, B. A., Keele, J. W., Shackelford, S. D., Wheeler, T. L., Koohmaraie, M., Nielsen, M. K. and Leymaster, K. A. 1999. Evaluation of the ovine callipyge locus. III. Genotypic effects on meat quality traits. Journal of Animal Science 77: 2336–2344.Google Scholar
Friggens, N. C., Shanks, M., Kyriazakis, I., Oldham, J. D. and McClelland, T. H. 1997. The growth and development of nine European sheep breeds. 1. British breeds: Scottish Blackface, Welsh Mountain and Shetland. Animal Science 65: 409–426.Google Scholar
Gaili, E. S. E. 1992. Breed and sex differences in body composition of sheep in relation to maturity and growth rate. Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Cambridge 118: 121–126.Google Scholar
Geenty, K. G., Clarke, J. N. and Jury, K. E. 1979. Carcass growth and development of Romney, Corriedale, Dorset, and crossbred sheep. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 22: 23–32.Google Scholar
Genstat 5 Committee. 2001. Genstat 5 release 4·2 (PC/ Windows NT). Lawes Agricultural Trust, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden.Google Scholar
Hall, D. G., Gilmour, A. R., Fogarty, N. M., Holst, P. J. and Hopkins, D. L. 2001. Growth and carcass composition of second-cross lambs. 1. Effect of sex and growth path on preand post-slaughter estimates of carcass composition. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 52: 859–867.Google Scholar
Hammond, J. 1932. Growth and development of mutton qualities in the sheep. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Jones, H. E., Lewis, R. M., Young, M. J. and Wolf, B. T. 2002a. The use of X-ray computer tomography for measuring the muscularity of live sheep. Animal Science 75: 387–399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, H. E., Lewis, R. M., Young, M. J., Wolf, B. T. and Warkup, C. C. 2002b. Changes in muscularity with growth and its relationship with other carcass traits in three terminal sire breeds of sheep. Animal Science 74: 265–275.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kempster, A. J., Croston, D., Guy, D. R. and Jones, D. W. 1987. Growth and carcass characteristics of crossbred lambs by ten sire breeds, compared at the same estimated carcass subcutaneous fat proportion. Animal Production 44: 83–98.Google Scholar
Kempster, A. J., Cuthbertson, A. and Harrington, G. 1976. Fat distribution in steer carcasses of different breeds and crosses. 1. Distribution between depots. Animal Production 23: 25–34.Google Scholar
Lewis, R. M., Emmans, G. C., Dingwall, W. S. and Simm, G. 2002a. A description of the growth of sheep and its genetic analysis. Animal Science 74: 51–62.Google Scholar
Lewis, R. M., Emmans, G. C. and Simm, G. 2002b. Effects of index selection on the carcass composition of sheep given either ad libitum or controlled amounts of food. Animal Science 75: 185–195.Google Scholar
Lewis, R. M., Emmans, G. C. and Simm, G. 2004. Effects of index selection on the carcass composition of sheep given foods of different protein content ad libitum . Animal Science 78: 203–212.Google Scholar
Lewis, R. M., Emmans, G. C., Simm, G., Dingwall, D. S. and FitzSimons, J. 1998. A description of the growth of the sheep. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, 1998, p 47.Google Scholar
McClelland, T. H., Bonatti, B. and Taylor, St C. S. 1976. Breed differences in body composition of equally mature sheep. Animal Production 23: 281–294.Google Scholar
McClelland, T. H. and Russel, A. J. 1972. The distribution of body fat in Scottish Blackface and Finnish Landrace lambs. Animal Production 15: 301–306.Google Scholar
McClelland, T. H., Russel, A. J. F. and Jackson, T. H. 1973. Lamb growth, efficiency of food utilization and body fat at four stages of maturity in four breeds of different mature body weight. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (New Series) 2: 83 (abstr.).Google Scholar
Mahgoub, O., Lu, C. D. and Early, R. J. 2000. Effects of dietary energy density on feed intake, body weight gain and carcass chemical composition of Omani growing lambs. Small Ruminant Research 37: 35–42.Google Scholar
Nitter, G. 1978. Breed utilization for meat production in sheep. Animal Breeding Abstracts 46: 131–143.Google Scholar
Oberbauer, A. M., Arnold, A. M. and Thonney, M. L. 1994. Genetically size-scaled growth and composition of Dorset and Suffolk rams. Animal Production 59: 223–234.Google Scholar
Parks, J. R. 1982. A theory of feeding and growth of animals. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
Scales, G. H. 1993. Carcass fatness in lambs grazing various forages at different rates of liveweight gain. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 36: 243–251.Google Scholar
Sehested, E. 1984. Computerised tomography of sheep. In In vivo measurement of body composition in meat animals (ed. Lister, D.), pp. 67–74. Elsevier, London.Google Scholar
Spillman, W. J. and Lang, E. 1924. The law of diminishing increment. World, Yonkers.Google Scholar
Taylor, St C. S. 1980. Genetic size scaling rules in animal growth. Animal Production 30: 161–165.Google Scholar
Taylor, St C. S., Murray, J. I. and Thonney, M. L. 1989. Breed and sex differences among equally mature sheep and goats. 4. Carcass muscle, fat and bone. Animal Production 49: 385–409.Google Scholar
Thomas, P. C., Robertson, S., Chamberlain, D. G., Livingstone, R. M., Garthwaite, P. H., Dewey, P. J. S., Smart, R. and Whyte, C. 1988. Predicting the metabolizable energy (ME) content of compound feeds for ruminants. In Recent advances in animal nutrition (ed. Haresign, W. and Cole, D. J. A.), pp. 127–146. Butterworths, London.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. M., Butterfield, R. M. and Perry, D. 1985. Food intake, growth and body composition in Australian Merino sheep selected for high and low weaning weight. 2. Chemical and dissectible body composition. Animal Production 40: 71–84.Google Scholar
Thompson, J. M. and Parks, J. R. 1983. Food intake, growth and mature size in Australian Merino and Dorset Horn sheep. Animal Production 36: 471–479.Google Scholar
Thonney, M. L., Taylor, St C. S. and McClelland, T. H. 1987a. Breed and sex differences in equally mature sheep and goats. 1. Growth and food intake. Animal Production 45: 239–260.Google Scholar
Thonney, M. L., Taylor, St C. S., Murray, J. I. and McClelland, T. H. 1987b. Breed and sex differences in equally mature sheep and goats. 2. Body components at slaughter. Animal Production 45: 261–276.Google Scholar
Wolf, B. T., Smith, C. and Sales, D. I. 1980. Growth and carcass composition in the crossbred progeny of six terminal sire breeds of sheep. Animal Production 31: 307–313.Google Scholar
Wood, J. D., MacFie, H. J. H., Pomeroy, R. W. and Twinn, D. J. 1980. Carcass composition in four sheep breeds: the importance of type of breed and stage of maturity. Animal Production 30: 135–152.Google Scholar
Woodward, J. and Wheelock, V. 1990. Consumer attitudes to fat in meat. In Reducing fat in meat animals (ed. Wood, J. D. and Fisher, A. V.), pp. 66–100. Elsevier, London.Google Scholar
Wylie, A. R. G., Chestnutt, D. M. B. and Kilpatrick, D. J. 1997. Growth and carcass characteristics of heavy slaughter weight lambs: effects of sire breed and sex of lamb and relationships to serum metabolites and IGF–1. Animal Science 64: 309–318.Google Scholar
Young, M. J., Lewis, R. M., McLean, K. A., Robson, N. A. A., Fraser, J., Fitzsimons, J., Donbavand, J. and Simm, G. 1999. Prediction of carcass composition in meat breeds of sheep using computer tomography. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, 1999, p. 43.Google Scholar
Young, M. J., Nsoso, S. J., Logan, C. M. and Beatson, P. R. 1996. Prediction of carcass tissue weight in vivo using live weight, ultrasound or X-ray CT measurements. Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production 56: 205–211.Google Scholar
Young, M. J., Simm, G. and Glasbey, C. A. 2001. Computerised tomography for carcass analysis. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science, 2001, pp. 250–254.Google Scholar