Relations between Some Body Measurements and Certain Performance Characters in Milking Shorthorn Steers

Abstract

various body measurements of the steers were taken on foot before slaughter. These body measurements were taken to determine whether there exists any association between the measures themselves and between them and certain performance characters. These relationships may be of practical value to a breeder in the selection of his stock. This paper is based on five measurements--height at withers, height to floor of chest, heart girth, width at shoulders, length of body; and their relationship to average daily gain, efficiency of feed utilization, and the age of the steers when they reach 900-pounds live weight. Associations of birth weight, age and weight at weaning with these measurements and rate and efficiency of gain and final age of the steers have also been included in this study. Review of LiteratureBlack et al. (1938) concluded from the analysis of data of 50 steers of beef, dual-purpose, and dairy breeding that at 900-pounds live weight the taller and rangier type of animal has a slight tendency to be less efficient in the use of feed. Width of shoulder and width of chest had small positive correlations with rate and efficiency of gain, and heart girth showed practically no correlation with these factors. Hultz and Wheeler (1927) in a study of 2-year-old Hereford steers concluded that low-set type steers make slightly more rapid and economical gains during a 156-day feeding period than do intermediate or rangy type steers. They report that a 2-year-old steer has the appearance of low-setness when the proportions of his chest depth, heart girth, and paunch to his height at the withers are great.

An Evaluation of Several Measurements of Beef Cow Size as Related to Progeny Performance

“…Kidwell (1955) with fat Hereford steers reported correlations of 0.49 for withcr height and heart girth, 0.53 for wither height and body length, and 0.41 for body length and heart girth. Kohli et al (1951) For personal use only.…”

Photogrammetric measurements on live steers for predicting carcass characteristics

“…This distance is one of the smallest in the study and any difficulty in locating the end points could add considerably to the variance of the measurement relative to its mean. Kohli et al (1951) reported lower coefficients of variation for a group of steers which were very uniform in slaughter weight. Their re ported coefficients were 2.4 percent, 4.9 percent, 4.4 percent, and 3.4 percent for height at withers, height at floor of chest, width of shoulder, and length of body, respectively.…”

“…Measurements from the projected photographs generally were unsatisfactory, probably be cause of the optical breakdown of the image when it was enlarged to life size. Kohli et al (1951) computed relations among five body measurements and performance characters in 157 900-pound milking Shorthorns. They re ported correlation coefficients between length of body (as measured from pinbone to point of shoulder) and height at withers, height at floor of chest, and width of shoulder to be .38, .23, and .07, respectively.…”

“…They also reported the correlations between width of shoulder and height at withers and height at floor of chest to be -.25 and -.18, respectively. Cook et al (1951) used data from the same steers reported on by Kohli et al (1951) to study associations between body measurements and slaughter grade, carcass grade, and dressing percentage. Most of the correlation coefficients found between the body measurements and the other three traits were not high enough to have much predictive value.…”

Photogrammetric measurements on live steers for predicting carcass characteristics

“…They also reported the correlations between width of shoulder and height at withers and height at floor of chest to be -.25 and -.18, respectively. Cook et al (1951) used data from the same steers reported on by Kohli et al (1951) A study by White and Green (1952) was made to ascertain relationships between live animal measurements and weights of major wholesale cuts.…”