Abstract presented at the 2001 Midwest Meeting, American Society of Animal Science, Des Moines, IA. J. Anim. Sci 79 (Suppl. 2): 40 (Abstr).

 

Evaluation of Duroc vs. Pietrain Sired Progeny for Carcass Measurements

 

D. B. Edwards, R. O. Bates, and W. N. Osburn

 

Department of Animal Science

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

 

Novel swine populations may contribute beneficial genes to U.S. swine production systems.  Crossbred progeny sired by either Duroc or ryanodine receptor gene normal Pietrain were used in this study.  Boars from each breed were mated to Yorkshire or F1 Yorkshire-Landrace females.  A total of 162 offspring were evaluated for carcass traits.  Measurements were taken on animals representative of each litter.  Data were analyzed using an animal model with fixed effects of breed of sire, breed of dam, gender, slaughter group, the interaction of breed of sire and gender, random effect of animal, and age of the animal as a covariate.  At similar ages, Duroc sired progeny had higher carcass weights (107.95 vs. 102.98 kg, p<.0001), and were longer (86.91 vs. 84.78 cm, p<.01), while Pietrain sired pigs had less back fat at the first rib (44.55 vs. 47.65 mm, p<.01), at the last lumbar vertebrae (20.85 vs. 22.96 mm, p<.05), and at the tenth rib (23.04 vs. 25.48 mm, p<.01).  No difference between Pietrain and Duroc progeny was seen for fat depth at the last rib (27.79 vs. 28.75 mm, respectively).  Pietrain progeny had a higher percent lean at slaughter (52.60 vs. 50.74, p<.05) and higher dressing percentage (73.96 vs. 73.08, p<.01).  Primal cut weights were collected with Pietrain progeny having a larger percentage of the carcass as ham (23.02 vs. 22.44, p<.01) and loin (21.59 vs. 21.21, p<.05), while Duroc progeny had a larger percentage for bellies (11.99 vs. 11.66, p<.05).  Duroc versus Pietrain percentages on boston (8.80 vs. 8.96) and picnic (9.85 vs. 9.91) shoulders were similar.  With higher carcass weights, Duroc progeny had higher primal cut weights as a function of age.  Both sire breeds have beneficial traits that can be utilized in commercial pork production and merit further study.

 

Keywords: pig, carcass measures, breeds.