A note on the relationship between live weight and the incidence of oestrus in Hereford heifers

1980 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. H. Cohen ◽  
D. L. Garden ◽  
J. P. Langlands

ABSTRACTThe incidence of oestrus in 603 Hereford heifers with a mean age of 545 days (range 515 to 575) was related to live weight (range 130 to 376 kg). Observations were ranked in order of ascending live weight and the percentage of heifers showing oestrus was calculated for consecutive 10 kg increments in live weight from 130 to 380 kg. The percentage showing oestrus was subjected to the probit transformation (Y, probit units) and was then related to live weight (X, kg):It was predicted that 50% of the heifers showed oestrus at 231 ± 1 kg, and that 5% and 95% showed oestrus at 187 and 280 kg respectively.

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 694
Author(s):  
Michaela Gibson ◽  
Rebecca Hickson ◽  
Penny Back ◽  
Keren Dittmer ◽  
Nicola Schreurs ◽  
...  

In cattle, limited data have been reported about the relationship between live weight, bone size, and strength and how this relationship can be altered by factors such as sex and age. The aim of this study was to describe the relationship of peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT)-derived parameters of bone strength and morphology with live weight, age and sex in beef-cross-dairy cattle. All animals were weighed the day before slaughter. The metacarpus and humerus were collected at slaughter and scanned at the mid-diaphysis using pQCT. Live weight was the primary explanatory variable for bone size and strength in all cohorts. However, the effect of age was significant, such that magnitude of response to liveweight was less in the 24-month-old cohort. Sex was significant within cohorts in that bulls had a shorter metacarpus than steers and heifers had a shorter metacarpus than steers at age of slaughter.


2011 ◽  
Vol 56 (No. 5) ◽  
pp. 242-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Ledvinka ◽  
L. Zita ◽  
M. Hubený ◽  
E. Tůmová ◽  
M. Tyller ◽  
...  

We assessed the influence of the particular genotype, age of layers, feather growth-rate gene, and their mutual interactions on selected indicators of eggshell quality in six groups of hens of the laying type Dominant. The following genotypes were examined in the experiment: Barred Plymouth Rock, Dominant BPR 951 (K) strain, slow-feathering; Barred Plymouth Rock, Dominant BPR 901 (k) strain, fast-feathering; Blue Plymouth Rock, Dominant BLPR 954 (K) strain, slow-feathering; Blue Plymouth Rock, Dominant BLPR 894 (k) strain, fast-feathering; crossbreds of the above strains in the F<sub>1</sub> generation Dominant D 107 blue (K), slow-feathering and Dominant D 107 blue (k), fast-feathering. The layers were fed a feed mixture NP1 (16.64 % CP) from the 20<sup>th</sup> week of age and a feed mixture NP2 (15.02% CP) from the 42<sup>nd</sup> week. Husbandry conditions met the regular requirements of laying hens. Egg production and live weight of hens were monitored for the duration of the experiment (12 months). Eggshell quality was examined at the layers' age of 27, 35 and 56 weeks. The average hen-day egg production for the duration of the experiment (12 months) was not significantly influenced by the particular genotype or the feather growth-rate gene. The varying representation of the feather growth-rate gene significantly (P &le; 0.001) influenced the live weight; similarly, the relationship between the genotype and the representation of K/k alleles was significant. The average egg weight was influenced statistically significantly (P &le; 0.001) by the age of hens, their genotype (P &le; 0.05), feather growth-rate gene (P &le; 0.001), and the relationship between the age and genotype (P &le; 0.001). The age of hens, genotype, and the interaction of these two factors affected the egg shape index, as did the incidence of the feather growth-rate gene within the population (with a statistical significance of P &le; 0.001). The age, genotype and the feather growth-rate gene incidence within the population also significantly affected the eggshell quality indicators. In the eggshell to egg ratio, eggshell thickness and strength, an interaction was determined between the age of hens and their particular genotype. The eggshell colour was also significantly (P &le; 0.001) affected by hens' age, genotype (P &le; 0.001), as well as by the feather growth-rate gene (P &le; 0.001). No significant interaction between the age and the genotype was found for this indicator.


Ramus ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myles Lavan

(BJ6.350)Those who discard their weapons and surrender their persons, I will let live. Like a lenient master in a household, I will punish the incorrigible but preserve the rest for myself.So ends Titus' address to the embattled defenders of Jerusalem in the sixth book of Josephus'Jewish War(6.328-50). It is the most substantial instance of communication between Romans and Jews in the work. Titus compares himself to the master of a household and the Jewish rebels to his slaves. Is this how we expect a Roman to describe empire? If not, what does it mean for our understanding of the politics of Josephus' history? The question is particularly acute given that this is not just any Roman but Titus himself: heir apparent and, if we believe Josephus, the man who read and approved this historical account. It is thus surprising that, while the speeches of Jewish advocates of submission to Rome such as Agrippa II (2.345-401) and Josephus himself (5.362-419) have long fascinated readers, Titus' speech has received little or no attention. Remarkably, it is not mentioned in any of three recent collections of essays on Josephus. This paper aims to highlight the rhetorical choices that Josephus has made in constructing this voice for Titus—particularly his self-presentation as master—and the interpretive questions these raise for his readers. It should go without saying that the relationship of this text to anything that Titus may have said during the siege is highly problematic. (Potentially more significant, but unfortunately no less speculative, is the question of how it might relate to any speech recorded in the commentaries of Vespasian and Titus that Josephus appears to have used as a source.) What we have is a Josephan composition that is embedded in the broader narrative of theJewish War.


1977 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. N. Howard ◽  
W. C. Smith

SUMMARYIn an analysis of data from 211 litters in a Pietrain herd, litter size at birth and at weaning was lower than is generally found in indigenous breeds. Mortality in growing and breeding pigs was high with circulatory failure accounting for 23% and 95% of deaths respectively. Pietrains, fed ad libitum over the live-weight range 27 to 87 kg, grew more slowly by 130 g/day than contemporary Large Whites on the same feeding regime, had higher killing-out percentages (by 3 to 4 units) and larger eye muscles in cross-section (by 9·9 cm2) but tended to have higher feed conversion ratios. There was no breed difference in backfat measurements but Pietrain carcasses were shorter by 83 mm and their muscle quality was markedly inferior to that of the Large Whites.


1996 ◽  
Vol 1996 ◽  
pp. 111-111
Author(s):  
V.C. Flamarique ◽  
R.M. Lewis ◽  
G. Simm

Excess fat in lamb is regarded as an important reason for less lamb meat being purchased by consumers. This has encouraged the development and use (particularly in Terminal Sire breeds) of selection indices that can identify animals that will sire leaner progeny. These indices usually include live weight and in vivo predictors of body composition, such as an ultrasonic measurement of muscle and fat depth, as selection criteria (Simm and Dingwall, 1989). But the usefulness of such in vivo measurements as predictors of carcass composition depends on the correlation between, and the variation in, live and carcass measures. The objectives of this study were to determine the strength of the relationship between ultrasound and dissection measures of carcass composition, and the degree of genetic variation in these measures, in crossbred progeny of Suffolk rams.


1964 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. V. Large

1. Thirty Suffolk × Half bred lambs were slaughtered at the following ages: two twin lambs at birth and two singles and two twins at 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 16 weeks of age.2. The following weights were recorded: live-weight immediately before slaughter; and carcass, head, skin, feet, alimentary tract, heart, liver, kidneys, lungs and trachea, and blood immediately afterwards.3. The alimentary tract was emptied and weighed in four separate parts; reticulo-rumen, omasum-abomasum, small intestine, large intestine.4. The volumes of the reticulo-rumen and the omasum-abomasum were measured by immersing in water and filling the organs with water to 2 cm. pressure.5. The in vitro digestive efficiency of rumen liquor from lambs of 1, 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age was assessed.6. Empty body weight was considered to be valuable in comparing animals of different ages or from different feeding regimes or at different times of the year because variations in gut ‘fill’ were eliminated.7. There were no differences between singles and twins in the relationship of the fresh weights of the parts of the body to empty body weight, except that development of the liver and the blood was rather slower for singles.8. Little evidence was found of a difference in rate of development of the alimentary tract between singles an d twins, although the log an d square root transformation suggested a possible difference in reticulo-rumen size in favour of twins, significant at the 5% level.


1983 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-164
Author(s):  
D. Croston ◽  
J. L. Read ◽  
D. W. Jones ◽  
D. E. Steane ◽  
C. Smith

ABSTRACTThirteen pairs of Suffolk rams were selected on high and low 18-month adjusted live weight from six farms over 2 years, to establish the relationship between 18-month weight and early lamb growth. Progeny were first produced in recorded crossbred flocks (618 lambs) and then in an experimental flock of crossbred ewes (1083 lambs). Different results were obtained from the recorded and experimental flocks. The regressions of lamb 12- to 13-week weight on ram 18-month weight (within farm deviation) were 0·053 ± 0·022 kg and –0·004 ± 0·020 kg, respectively. These regressions for indirect selection correspond to ‘effective’ heritabilities for direct selection for lamb growth of 0·18 ± 0·07 and 0·02 ± 0·06 respectively. Improvement of early Iamb growth is discussed and it is concluded that selection for 18-month weight is unlikely to be a useful method.


1960 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zofia Osińska ◽  
J. Kielanowski

Data from Danish Progeny Testing Stations were used to investigate the relationship between the colour of meat and feed efficiency in pigs. For groups slaughtered during the summer there was a highly significant correlation. As the amount of feed consumed per unit live-weight gain declined so the meat became paler. For groups slaughtered in winter and for data pooled over the whole year, there was no significant correlation. Possible explanations of these findings are discussed.


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