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A note on the effects of health environment on heterosis for growth rate in pigs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

B. W. Kennedy  and
M. Quinton
B. W. Kennedy
Affiliation:
Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
M. Quinton
Affiliation:
Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada
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Extract

Heterosis for growth rate in pigs is usually expressed, and reviews of European and North American studies have been given by Sellier (1976) and Johnson (1981). Kennedy and Moxley (1980) observed heterosis of 0·044 to 0·067 for weight at 154 days and attributed some of the crossbred advantage to heterosis for resistance to atrophic rhinitis. Similarly, McGuirk, Bourke and Manwaring (1978) attributed some of the heterosis for growth rate in sheep to heterosis for resistance to pneumonia. Although little attention has been paid to interactions between heterosis and health environment, Barlow (1981) concluded from an extensive review of studies involving farm and laboratory animals that heterosis is environment dependent and is enhanced by increased stress. Sellier (1976) commented that it would be useful to examine the degree of heterosis with ‘specific pathogen free’ pigs raised in a healthy environment, and this study examined heterosis for days to 90 kg in Yorkshire × Landrace pigs under three different environments with respect to health conditions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 44 , Issue 3 , June 1987 , pp. 443 - 445
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1987

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References

REFERENCES

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