Genetic and phenotypic associations of feed efficiency with growth and carcass traits in Australian Angus cattle1

Abstract Pulmonary hypertension (PH) can lead to premature mortality in fed cattle and is often called Feedlot Heart Disease (FHD). To date, pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) has been the only indicator trait of PH that has been evaluated. The objective of this study was to evaluate relationships between heart score (using heart score as a phenotype for PH) and PAP, carcass, and feed efficiency traits in fattening Angus steers. Our hypothesis was that feed efficiency and carcass traits, along with PAP, would demonstrate a strong relationship with heart score. Feed efficiency, carcass, PAP and heart score data from 89 Black Angus steers from Colorado State University Beef Improvement Center were collected and used for this study. Evaluations were performed using a multiple linear regression model, which included heart score as a categorical fixed effect and age as a continuous fixed effect. Least Square Means, pairwise comparisons, and ANOVA tables were constructed per trait. PAP (P < 0.001) showed an important relationship to heart score and average dry matter (P < 0.10) intake approached importance to heart score. In general, feed efficiency and carcass traits decreased as heart score increased, but PAP was the only trait with a strong relationship to heart score (P < 0.05). This led us to reject our hypothesis.

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Effects of dietary tannin source on performance, feed efficiency, ruminal fermentation, and carcass and non-carcass traits in steers fed a high-grain diet

Animal Feed Science and Technology ◽

10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2010.05.003 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 159 (1-2) ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 62

Author(s):

W.K. Krueger ◽

H. Gutierrez-Bañuelos ◽

G.E. Carstens ◽

B.R. Min ◽

W.E. Pinchak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Feed Efficiency ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Ruminal Fermentation

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The effect of slaughter weight on growth and carcass traits of Holstein-Friesian bulls offered a cereal-based diet

Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s1752756200008127 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 2002 ◽

pp. 156-156

Author(s):

R.M. Kirkland ◽

R.W.J. Steen ◽

D.C. Patterson

Keyword(s):

Feed Efficiency ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Minimum Cost ◽

Beef Industry ◽

Slaughter Weight ◽

Bull Calves ◽

Holstein Friesian ◽

Beef Producers ◽

Ready Availability ◽

Production Characteristics

With the current situation of low profitability in the beef industry, producers must aim to produce beef efficiently and at minimum cost. In view of the ready availability of Holstein Friesian bull calves as a by-product of the dairy industry, the rearing and finishing of these animals offers a possible source of income to beef producers. The objective of the present study was to examine the influence of slaughter weight on feed efficiency and production characteristics of Holstein-Friesian bulls offered a cereal-based diet.

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Effect of dietary supplementation of turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder on the growth performance and carcass traits of broiler chicks

SAARC Journal of Agriculture ◽

10.3329/sja.v13i1.24191 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 188-199 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

MA Mondal ◽

T Yeasmin ◽

R Karim ◽

M Nurealam Siddiqui ◽

SM Raihanun Nabi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Weight Gain ◽

Feed Efficiency ◽

Body Weight Gain ◽

Curcuma Longa ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Feed Consumption ◽

Feed Additive ◽

Average Weight ◽

Broiler Chicks ◽

June July

The present study was aimed to investigate the dietary effect of different levels of turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder on the performance of broiler during summer (June-July), 2013. Four experimental rations designated as T0, T1, T2 and T3 having 0%, 0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% Turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder were fed to 120 broiler chicks (Ross 308), randomly distributed into 12 replicates, so as to have 3 replicates per treatment and 10 chicks per replicate. Average weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, dressing yield and survivability were used as criteria of response to feeding turmeric powder. Organs weight including heart, liver and gizzard were also recorded. The mean body weight gain and average feed efficiency (feed gain-1) per broiler significantly increased (P<0.01) by turmeric supplemented feed compared to control feed. The average feed consumption and survivability of broiler chick non- significantly (P>0.05) improved due to by turmeric supplementation in the diets. Inclusion of turmeric powder caused slightly increased the carcass traits of broiler chicks i.e., average weight of liver, heart and gizzard but the differences were non-significant (P>0.05). A significant decrease (P<0.01) in abdominal fat pad and significant increase (P<0.05) in dressing yield was observed in chickens fed the turmeric supplemented diets. The results of the present study suggest that the use of turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder as feed additive at a level of 0.5% enhances the growth performances and carcass yield of broiler chicks.SAARC J. Agri., 13(1): 188-199 (2015)

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Feed efficiency and carcass metrics in growing cattle1

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skz316 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 97 (11) ◽

pp. 4405-4417 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

David N Kelly ◽

Craig Murphy ◽

Roy D Sleator ◽

Michelle M Judge ◽

Stephen B Conroy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Feed Efficiency ◽

Production Efficiency ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Genetic Correlations ◽

Live Weight ◽

Residual Energy ◽

Feedlot Cattle ◽

Carcass Weight ◽

Research Perspective ◽

Dressing Percentage

Abstract Some definitions of feed efficiency such as residual energy intake (REI) and residual gain (RG) may not truly reflect production efficiency. The energy sinks used in the derivation of the traits include metabolic live-weight; producers finishing cattle for slaughter are, however, paid on the basis of carcass weight, as opposed to live-weight. The objective of the present study was to explore alternative definitions of REI and RG which are more reflective of production efficiency, and quantify their relationship with performance, ultrasound, and carcass traits across multiple breeds and sexes of cattle. Feed intake and live-weight records were available on 5,172 growing animals, 2,187 of which also had information relating to carcass traits; all animals were fed a concentrate-based diet representative of a feedlot diet. Animal linear mixed models were used to estimate (co)variance components. Heritability estimates for all derived REI traits varied from 0.36 (REICWF; REI using carcass weight and carcass fat as energy sinks) to 0.50 (traditional REI derived with the energy sinks of both live-weight and ADG). The heritability for the RG traits varied from 0.24 to 0.34. Phenotypic correlations among all definitions of the REI traits ranged from 0.90 (REI with REICWF) to 0.99 (traditional REI with REI using metabolic preslaughter live-weight and ADG). All were different (P < 0.001) from one suggesting reranking of animals when using different definitions of REI to identify efficient cattle. The derived RG traits were either weakly or not correlated (P > 0.05) with the ultrasound and carcass traits. Genetic correlations between the REI traits with carcass weight, dressing difference (i.e., live-weight immediately preslaughter minus carcass weight) and dressing percentage (i.e., carcass weight divided by live-weight immediately preslaughter) implies that selection on any of the REI traits will increase carcass weight, lower the dressing difference and increase dressing percentage. Selection on REICW (REI using carcass weight as an energy sink), as opposed to traditional REI, should increase the carcass weight 2.2 times slower but reduce the dressing difference 4.3 times faster. While traditionally defined REI is informative from a research perspective, the ability to convert energy into live-weight gain does not necessarily equate to carcass gain, and as such, traits such as REICW and REICWF provide a better description of production efficiency for feedlot cattle.

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PSXIV-17 Effects of corn bran plus solubles and corn oil on growth performance and carcass traits of finishing bulls

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.1093/jas/skz258.864 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 97 (Supplement_3) ◽

pp. 436-437

Author(s):

Arquimedes Lima Junior ◽

Murillo A Meschiatti ◽

Vinicius N Gouvêa ◽

Victor Dantas ◽

Daniel Silva Antonelo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Weight ◽

Growth Performance ◽

Feed Efficiency ◽

Dry Matter ◽

Corn Oil ◽

Average Daily Gain ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Dry Matter Intake ◽

Final Body Weight ◽

Finishing Diets

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth performance and carcass traits of finishing bulls fed diets containing, on dietary dry matter basis, different levels of corn wet distillers bran plus solubles (WDBS; 0, 15, 30 or 45%) added with or without corn oil (CO; 0 and 3%). A total of 205 Nellore bulls (390 ± 25 kg initial BW) were blocked by initial body weight, distributed in 40 pens and pens within weight block were randomly assigned to treatments in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement. Diets were isonitrogenous and contained 8.5% sugarcane bagasse and 91.5% concentrate (ground corn, soybean meal, pelleted citrus pulp, urea, mineral). The WDBS (FlexyDDG®) and the corn oil were from SJC Bioenergia (Quirinópolis, Goiás, Brazil). Data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED procedure of SAS. An interaction between CO × WDBS levels was observed for dry matter intake (DMI; P = 0.032). In diets without CO, increasing levels of WDBS linearly (P = 0.004) reduced the DMI, but in diets containing 3% CO, increasing levels of WDBS quadraticaly affected the DMI (P = 0.002). No effects of CO, WDBSF levels or CO × WDBS levels were observed for final body weight, average daily gain, hot carcass weight and dressing percentage. Feed efficiency tended (P = 0.07) to be greater for bulls fed diets containing CO (0.154 vs. 0.144). Increasing levels of WDBS tended (P = 0.09) to increase the feed efficiency. In summary, increasing levels of WDBS in finishing diets linearly (in diets without CO) or quadratically (in diets with CO) reduces the dry matter intake. Adding CO and WDBS tend to increase feed efficiency.

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A multi-breed GWAS for morphometric traits in four Beninese indigenous cattle breeds reveals loci associated with conformation, carcass and adaptive traits

BMC Genomics ◽

10.1186/s12864-020-07170-0 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sèyi Fridaïus Ulrich Vanvanhossou ◽

Carsten Scheper ◽

Luc Hippolyte Dossa ◽

Tong Yin ◽

Kerstin Brügemann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Immune Response ◽

Candidate Genes ◽

Feed Efficiency ◽

Morphological Traits ◽

Carcass Traits ◽

Potential Candidate ◽

Adaptive Traits ◽

Morphometric Traits ◽

Indigenous Cattle ◽

Genome Wide

Abstract Background Specific adaptive features including disease resistance and growth abilities in harsh environments are attributed to indigenous cattle breeds of Benin, but these breeds are endangered due to crossbreeding. So far, there is a lack of systematic trait recording, being the basis for breed characterizations, and for structured breeding program designs aiming on conservation. Bridging this gap, own phenotyping for morphological traits considered measurements for height at withers (HAW), sacrum height (SH), heart girth (HG), hip width (HW), body length (BL) and ear length (EL), including 449 cattle from the four indigenous Benin breeds Lagune, Somba, Borgou and Pabli. In order to utilize recent genomic tools for breed characterizations and genetic evaluations, phenotypes for novel traits were merged with high-density SNP marker data. Multi-breed genetic parameter estimations and genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for the six morphometric traits were carried out. Continuatively, we aimed on inferring genomic regions and functional loci potentially associated with conformation, carcass and adaptive traits. Results SNP-based heritability estimates for the morphometric traits ranged between 0.46 ± 0.14 (HG) and 0.74 ± 0.13 (HW). Phenotypic and genetic correlations ranged from 0.25 ± 0.05 (HW-BL) to 0.89 ± 0.01 (HAW-SH), and from 0.14 ± 0.10 (HW-BL) to 0.85 ± 0.02 (HAW-SH), respectively. Three genome-wide and 25 chromosome-wide significant SNP positioned on different chromosomes were detected, located in very close chromosomal distance (±25 kb) to 15 genes (or located within the genes). The genes PIK3R6 and PIK3R1 showed direct functional associations with height and body size. We inferred the potential candidate genes VEPH1, CNTNAP5, GYPC for conformation, growth and carcass traits including body weight and body fat deposition. According to their functional annotations, detected potential candidate genes were associated with stress or immune response (genes PTAFR, PBRM1, ADAMTS12) and with feed efficiency (genes MEGF11 SLC16A4, CCDC117). Conclusions Accurate measurements contributed to large SNP heritabilities for some morphological traits, even for a small mixed-breed sample size. Multi-breed GWAS detected different loci associated with conformation or carcass traits. The identified potential candidate genes for immune response or feed efficiency indicators reflect the evolutionary development and adaptability features of the breeds.

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