Growth and development in the pig, with special reference to carcass quality characters: Part II. The influence of the plane of nutrition on growth and development

Extract

No attempt will be made to give a detailed summary of all the findings of the present experiment. It is rather our purpose to draw attention to the main principles emerging.

1. The influence of extremes of high and low planes of nutrition during the first 16 weeks of post-natal life upon the growth in body proportions and in anatomical composition has been studied experimentally in six pairs of closely inbred pigs. Quantitative differences in nutrition operative from birth have resulted in an average live weight at 16 weeks of 113 lb. in the High-Plane and 37 lb. in the Low-Plane animals.

2. In body proportions, the head, ears, neck, legs, and body length are penalized relatively less by inadequate nutrition than are body depth, loin, and hindquarters. Conversely, good nutrition favours most the latter characters. These effects upon body form are similarly evident i n the gross weight of the different anatomical regions involved. Low-Plane animals to a large extent retain the proportions of the juvenile and High-Plane approach the conformation of the adult