Index x Contents
Preface to First EditionAn understanding of the processes which change the size, shape and composition of farm animals is fundamental to all aspects of production which seeks to meet the dietary and other needs of human populations. This book attempts, within the limits of a basic undergraduate text, to give a comprehensive picture of how animals grow, change in shape and in composition, and to describe those factors which affect growth processes and which dictate the extent and direction of changes within the animal.The overall scene we have attempted to present is a progression from cell to tissue to entire animal, as well as a description of those factors within the animal, particularly hormones, genes and gender, which fashion this progression. In addition, an attempt has been made to give perspective to the manner in which such a complexity of changes affects the approach to, and understanding of, concepts of efficiency. However, it was felt that the framework would not be complete without first setting the scene in the context of some of the principles which govern size and shape in all animals and, second, describing the methods which may be used to measure the overall results of the processes which have been described. Deliberately, the effect on growth which exogenous factors such as hormonal implants, antibiotics and other intestinal tract manipulators may have has not been considered. Although the use of such manipulators may be transitory and dependent on political and other pressures, basically they were not considered to be appropriate to the general thesis. Whilst it is acknowledged that poultry are farm animals of great importance in producing food for the human, largely through a dearth of appropriate detailed information and because of the approaches to production which are used in practice, this book concentrates on cattle, sheep and pigs.In our student days we were endlessly fascinated by the seminal studies of D'Arcy Thompson, by the profound work of Brody at Missouri and by the inspired and inspiring work and writing of Hammond and his associates at Cambridge. To no less an extent we found the sheer variety of animal cells and the immensely complex tissues that they form, and which give ultimately the overall growth responses, both amazing and mind gripping. These fascinations have remained with us ever since and in our working lives we have been fortunate to have had the chance to make some contributions to some of those areas which have so consistently intrigued us and occupied our thoughts. As students the writings of those great men above were those to which we turned. Today much of their basic thinking still holds good and leads the enquiring mind in the right direction when considering the problems of how best farm animals may be grown to yield products for the human. However, there is no book which as a complete entity has updated their basic thinking and which takes the reader from cell to complete animal based on original classical anatomical studies and the quantit...