Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T20:51:29.519Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Changes in body composition relative to weight and maturity of Australian Dorset Horn rams and wethers. 2. Individual muscles and muscle groups

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

R. M. Butterfield
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
K. J. Reddacliff
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
J. M. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
J. Zamora
Affiliation:
Department of Veterinary Anatomy, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Jean Williams
Affiliation:
Division of Mathematics and Statistics, CSIRO, Lindfield, NSW 2070, Australia
Get access

Abstract

Maturity patterns have been established for 93 individual carcass muscles and nine standard muscle groups using dissection data from 20 Dorset Horn rams and 20 Dorset Horn wethers. A very high proportion, 81/93, of the individual muscles and all the muscle groups had maturity patterns which were not different for the rams and wethers.

Maturity patterns of some muscle groups varied from those previously demonstrated in Merino rams, in that the abdominal wall group was later maturing and the neck to forelimb and neck and thorax groups were earlier maturing in the Dorset Horns.

Comparison of the distribution of muscle weight of the Dorset Horn rams and wethers at the mean total muscle weight resulted in different conclusions to comparison at the mean proportion of maturity. It is concluded that comparisons of muscle weight distribution of entire and castrated male sheep, in which mature muscle weight varies, will be most meaningful if carried out at the same proportion of maturity, since comparisons at the same weight of total muscle will embrace components of difference due to stage of maturity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1984

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

REFERENCES

Berg, R. T. and Mukhoty, H. M. 1970. Lean distribution in carcasses from bulls, steers and heifers of various breeds. 49th A. Feeders' Day Rep., Dep. Anim. Sci., Univ. Alberta, Edmonton, pp. 4041.Google Scholar
Bergstrom, P. L. 1978. Sources of variation in muscle weight distribution. In Patterns of Growth and Development in Cattle (ed. De Boer, H. and Martin, J.), pp. 91131. Nijhoff, The Hague.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brännäng, E. 1971. Studies on monozygous cattle twins. XXIII. The effects of castration and age of castration on the development of single muscles, bones and special sex characters. Part II. Swed. J. agric. Res. 1: 6978.Google Scholar
Butterfield, R. M. 1964. Relative growth of the musculature of the ox. In Carcase Composition and Appraisal of Meat Animals (ed. Tribe, D. E.), pp. 7–1. CSIRO, Melbourne.Google Scholar
Butterfield, R. M. and Berg, R. T. 1966. A classification of bovine muscles based on their relative growth patterns. Res. vet. Sci. 7: 326332.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Butterfield, R. M. and Berg, R. T. 1974. Possibilities to change the muscle development of different parts of the body by breeding and feeding. Proc. 1st Wld Congr. Genet. Appl. Livestock Prod., Vol. 1, pp. 625633. Madrid, Editorial Garsi.Google Scholar
Butterfield, R. M. and May, N. D. S. 1964. Muscles of the Ox. University of Queensland Press, Brisbane.Google Scholar
Butterfield, R. M., Zamora, J., James, A. M., Thompson, J. M. and Williams, Jean. 1983. Changes in body composition relative to weight and maturity of large and small strains of Australian Merino rams. 2. Individual muscles and muscle groups. Anim. Prod. 36: 165174.Google Scholar
Butterfield, R. M., Zamora, J., Thompson, J. M., Reddacliff, K. J. and Griffiths, D. A. 1984. Changes in body composition relative to weight and maturity of Australian Dorset Horn rams and wethers. 1. Carcass muscle, fat, and bone and body organs. Anim. Prod. 39: 251258.Google Scholar
Lohse, C. L. 1971. Studies in the quantitative anatomy of Merino sheep. Ph.D. Thesis, Univ. Sydney.Google Scholar
Lohse, C. L. 1973. The influence of sex on muscle growth in Merino sheep. Growth 37: 177187.Google ScholarPubMed
Taylor, St C. S., Mason, M. A. and McClelland, T. H. 1980. Breed and sex differences in muscle distribution in equally mature sheep. Anim. Prod. 30: 125133.Google Scholar