Relationships between Meat Production Characters and Body Measurements in Beef and Milking Shorthorn Steers

Abstract

B ODY conformation in cattle is one of the important bases in judging and selecting animals for breeding and production purposes. Measurements taken on various parts of the body furnish an objective description of body conformation. The ability of cattle to produce meat could be estimated with these measurements if relationships between body measurements and meat production characters were obtained. A number of studies have been made on the relations of certain body measurements to some of the performance factors of steers, such as Black, Knapp and Cook (1947) the correlations of body measurements with rate of gain and certain carcass characteristics; Cook, Kohli and Dawson (1951) relationships of five body measurements to slaughter grade, carcass grade and dressing percentage; Dawson, Phillips and Black (1947) birth weight and growth of steers; Hankins and Burk (1938) relationships among production and grade factors of beef; Hultz and Wheeler (1927) type of beef steers; Kohli, Cook and Dawson (1951) relations between some body measurements and certain performance characters; Knapp and Cook (1933) comparisons of body measurements; Lush (1928, 1932) the change of body measurements and the relations of body shape to the rate of gain and dressing percentage; Severson, Gerlaugh and Bentley (1917) body measurements and gain of steers; and Willard (1948) birth weight and weight gain. Since the characters studied varied, the conditions under which the studies were made were not all the same and the results differed somewhat, there is a need for further studies.

EVALUACIÓN DE LAS MEDIDAS DE GRUPA Y MUSLO DE LA CRÍA Y UBRE DE LA MADRE COMO INDICADORES FENOTÍPICOS EN LA SELECCIÓN TEMPRANA DE LLAMAS (Lama glama) PARA CARNE.

“…Esta información podría ser utilizada en la predicción del rendimiento de carcasa y la edad de beneficio apropiado. Hammack y Shrode (1986) señalan que el peso y algunas medidas corporales como la longitud corporal y el ancho de caderas son útiles para predecir los pesos de carcasa en vacunos de carne; así mismo, Yao et al (1953) encontraron en bovinos de carne que el diámetro y circunferencia muscular estaban positivamente correlacionadas con el grado de la canal. En base a estas informaciones, se puede inferir que el área de la grupa y el volumen del muslo deben guardar estrecha relación con el rendimiento de la carcasa, ya que son zonas de gran desarrollo muscular, hecho que debe corroborarse en la llama.…”

Possibilities of Using Morphometric Measurements as a Tool to Establish a Live Beef Cattle Grading System in Tunisia

“…Wanderstock and Salisbury (1946) reported similar high correlations between weight at slaughter and height at withers and heart girth. However, Yao et al (1953) reported low correlations between the variables related to the height at hooks, the width of the chest (r = -0.07) and the width at pelvis (r = 0.17). These earlier results were in agreement with the low correlations estimated in the present study.…”

Estimating Composition From Linear Measurements, Live Probe, and Body Weight

“…Severson and Gerlaugh (1917), Lush (1932), Hankins and Beard (1944), and Yao, Dawson, and Cook (1953) report that width, depth, and circumference measurements are mainly fleshing measurements. These measurements quite highly reflect the amount of finish which a particular steer or sheep possesses.…”