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The effect of age at puberty on growth and carcass quality at market weight in the gilt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

M. A. Price ,
F. X. Aherne ,
J. I. Elliot  and
G. A. Lodge
M. A. Price
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H1, Canada
F. X. Aherne
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H1, Canada
J. I. Elliot
Affiliation:
Agriculture Canada Research Branch, Animal Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada
G. A. Lodge
Affiliation:
Agriculture Canada Research Branch, Animal Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0C6, Canada
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Abstract

Eighty-nine crossbred gilts were used in an experiment to assess the effects of age at puberty on growth and their carcass characteristics at market weight. From 100 days of age each gilt was exposed daily to a boar and observed for standing heat. The gilts were slaughtered in a commercial abattoir as they reached market weight (approximately 109 kg live weight). Thirty-two gilts (36%) reached puberty before slaughter. These 32 earlier-maturing gilts grew more slowly than the other 57 (P<0·001) yet, paradoxically, within the group of 32 which had reached puberty, there was a significant negative correlation between age at puberty and average daily gain (r=−0·565; P<0·001). Of the 32, the date at first oestrus was known in 30 cases. Among these 30, 10 had ovulated more than once (early-maturing) and 20 had ovulated once (intermediate maturing). Consistent with the paradox there was a significant negative correlation between age at puberty and rate of gain within each group but the regression line for the early-maturing gilts had a significantly lower intercept, on the gain axis, than that for the intermediate group (P<0·01). There were no significant differences between sexual maturity groups for any of the large number of physical and chemical carcass characteristics studied.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , October 1981 , pp. 159 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1981

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References

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