PERFORMANCE OF DAIRY CROSSES WITH THE HEREFORD IN A RANGE ENVIRONMENT

1982 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-724
Author(s):  
J. E. LAWSON

The performance of Brown-Swiss-, Holstein-, and Hereford-sired calves produced in a specific Hereford cow herd over 2 yr was evaluated in a southern Alberta range environment. Holstein × Hereford heifers exceeded Brown Swiss × Hereford and Hereford heifers in 200-day weight and 365-day weight, and lost less weight during the winter. Crossbred bull calves were heavier than Herefords in initial feedlot weight and 365-day weight, and had heavier and longer carcasses at the same age. Although the crossbreds consumed about 15% more digestible energy (DE) than the Herefords during the 168-day feedlot period, the three groups did not differ in megajoules (Mj) of dietary energy per kilogram of gain. Holstein × Hereford bulls had the highest feedlot average daily gain and the least fat cover over the longissimus dorsi. Brown Swiss × Hereford bulls had more lean, less marbling, and the highest cutability percent. An important aspect of the study was the demonstrated hardiness of the crossbred heifers derived from the apparently well-adapted Hereford cow herd in the tough range environment. Key words: Beef crosses, beef cattle performance, crossbreeding

2007 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. F. Oresanya ◽  
A. D. Beaulieu ◽  
E. Beltranena ◽  
J. F. Patience

Amino acids should be defined in relation to dietary energy concentration in diets for young pigs. However, the literature contains diverse estimates of the optimum lysine:digestible energy (DE) ratio for weanling pigs performing at levels commonly observed in commercial practice. Further, there is a poor understanding of the reponse of the weanling pig to dietary energy concentration. A growth experiment was conducted to define the optimum total lysine:DE ratio for pigs from 4 to 8 wk of age. Dietary treatments were arranged as a 2 × 5 factorial: low (LDE, 3.4 Mcal kg-1) or high DE (HDE, 3.6 Mcal kg-1) and the following total lysine:DE ratios: 3.7, 4.0, 4.3, 4.6, or 4.9 g Mcal-1). The experiment ran for 28 d, beginning 7 d post-weaning, using four pigs per pen and six pens per diet for a total of 240 pigs (27 ± 2 d; 7.5 ± 1.1 kg). No DE × lysine:DE ratio interactions were detected for any performance parameter (P > 0.05). The average daily feed intake (ADFI) was 4% greater with pigs on LDE than HDE diets (DE,P < 0.05), but was not affected by lysine:DE ratio (P > 0.05). Conversely, DE did not affect average daily gain (ADG) (P > 0.05), but increased quadratically (day 0 to 14; P < 0.05) and (day 0 to 28; P < 0.10) with increasing lysine:DE ratio. Feed efficiency increased linearly with increasing lysine:DE ratio (P < 0.05) and was 4% greater with the HDE than LDE diets (P < 0.05). The optimum total lysine:DE ratio for ADG was determined to be 4.46 and 4.27 g Mcal-1 for pigs between 7.5 to 13 kg and 7.5 to 22.5 kg BW, respectively. Key words: Pig, total lysine, digestible energy, growth


The article describes the issues of comparative assessment of economic and biological features and productive qualities of beef cattle bred in Western Kazakhstan. The authors present norms and rations for feeding young animals of different genotypes. The results of studying the exterior features, body weight and average daily gain of Kazakh Whiteheaded breed and foreign Hereford and Aberdeen Angus breeds are presented. The authors conduct a comparative analysis of body weight and average daily gain of young animals of different breeds grown in the semi-desert zone of Western Kazakhstan. It has been found that during the growing period from 8 to 15 months, the average daily gain of body weight of the Hereford breed was 658.1 g for bull calves and 587.1 g for heifers, of the Aberdeen Angus breed – 603.8 g and 500.9 g respectively and of the Kazakh Whiteheaded breed – 758.8 g and 561.1 g respectively


1988 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 647-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. W. RAHNEFELD ◽  
G. M. WEISS ◽  
H. T. FREDEEN ◽  
J. A. NEWMAN ◽  
J. E. LAWSON

Genetic effects on postweaning growth traits were evaluated for 3592 crossbred steers and heifers fed at two locations, Brandon, Manitoba and Lacombe, Alberta during a 6-yr period (1973–1978). The calves were sired by Chianina (Chi), Charolais (C), Limousin (L) and Simmental (S) bulls mated to 10 F1 dam-crosses representing the Hereford × Angus (HA) and nine dam-cross combinations produced by mating C, S and L sires with H, A and Shorthorn (N) females. Progeny rankings by terminal sire breed for weight on-test were C = Chi = S > L. For the trait 140-d postweaning average daily gain, progeny rankings were C > Chi = S, C = Chi > L and Chi > S > L. The progeny from the majority of "exotic" cross-dams were heavier on-test, and had higher postweaning average daily gain than progeny from HA dams. Ranking of dam-crosses according to their breed of sire (DS) for the trait weight on-test were S > C > L. The DS comparisons for postweaning average daily gain were C > S > L. The ranking of dam-crosses by breed of dam's dam, for on-test weight and postweaning average daily gain were N > H = A. Genetic interactions (terminal sire by breed cross of dam) were absent. Genotype environment interactions involving breed of terminal sire with year, sex and location were found for weight on-test and postweaning average daily gain. All resulted from changes in the magnitude of breed of sire differences, not from changes in sire rankings. Key words: Cattle, breeds, cross breeding, growth


1985 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 673-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. CROOM Jr. ◽  
R. W. HARVEY ◽  
D. M. AMARAL ◽  
J. W. SPEARS

Sixty-four yearling steers were fed a fattening diet plus 0.5% NaCl (control), 2% limestone, 5% NaCl, or 5% NaCl plus 2% limestone. Feeding 5% NaCl and 5% NaCl plus 2% limestone resulted in decreased total gain (P < 0.01), average daily gain (P < 0.01) and carcass weight (P < 0.05) while 5% NaCl decreased the efficiency of organic matter utilization (P < 0.05). Sodium chloride supplementation decreased ruminal pH and acetate to propionate ratio at day 62 but there was no effect of NaCl evident in samples collected on day 118. Blood glucose was decreased (P < 0.05) at days 62 and 118 in steers fed 5% NaCl and 5% NaCl plus 2% limestone. Supplementation with high levels of sodium chloride nonsignificantly increased the percentage of starch in cecal and colon digesta samples collected at slaughter. Also the NaCl treatment decreased pH (P < 0.05) in the colon and acetate to propionate ratio (P < 0.10) in the cecum. Although NaCl supplementation altered ruminal and digestive parameters, it did not result in increased performance. Key words: Sodium chloride, limestone, beef cattle, growth


1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Hironaka ◽  
K. A. Beauchemin ◽  
T. J. Lysyk

All-concentrate diets consisting of thin-, medium- or coarse-rolled barley or whole barley were fed to 24 Hereford steers and 24 Hereford bulls. Digestibility trials and chewing studies were conducted on each of the diets. Cattle fed medium-rolled barley gained faster (P < 0.05) (1.62 kg d−1) than those fed thin-rolled (1.49 kg d−1) or whole barley (1.38 kg d−1), and cattle fed coarse-rolled barley gained faster (P < 0.05) (1.53 kg d−1) than those fed whole barley. The average daily gain was similar in cattle fed thin-rolled and whole barley. Feed intake was lower from week 2 to week 8 in cattle fed the thin- and medium-rolled barley diets than in those fed the coarse-rolled and whole-barley diets. Gain-to-feed ratio decreased as the thickness of the roll increased and was lowest in cattle fed whole barley. Energy, protein and starch digestibilities declined with thickness of roll and were lowest for the whole-barley diets. Ruminating time and the time ruminating per kilogram of feed increased as the thickness of the roll increased; rumination time was longest on the whole-barley diet. Key words: Beef cattle, barley, rolling, processing, rumination, digestibility


1970 ◽  
Vol 10 (44) ◽  
pp. 262
Author(s):  
WE Mason ◽  
RG Beilharz ◽  
R Carraill

Records of growth to weaning of 1812 calves from seven herds in Victoria and one herd in New South Wales were analysed. The results of the analysis were : 1. Preweaning growth rate of heifers decreased significantly with age at weaning. That of bulls and steers did not. 2. Age of dam had a large effect in all three sexes. Environmental factors (properties, years) affected bull calves more than heifer calves. There were fewer degrees of freedom at these levels of the analysis for steers. 3. Adjustments for age of dam were calculated and are presented (table 3). 4. Heritability estimates were obtained from dam-progeny regressions and intra-class correlations. The heritability of adjusted preweaning average daily gain was about 0.25. Clearly many more records need to be analysed to provide further estimates of heritability.


1976 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. LAWSON ◽  
H. F. PETERS

The 1/4-Brahman bull calves exceeded those of the cattalo and Hereford by 19.6 and 14.8% in weaning weight. However, the Hereford surpassed the 1/4-Brahman and the cattalo by 11.1 and 14.9% in feedlot average daily gain. Cattalo (cattle × bison species cross) bulls weighed 17.7 and 12.0% less than 1/4-Brahman and Hereford bulls just before slaughter at an average age of 425 days. Similar differences were apparent for cold carcass weight. When age-of-dam and age-at-slaughter were covariate factors, area of the longissimus dorsi from 1/4-Brahman calves was larger by 13.5 and 8.7% than those from cattalo and Hereford. Fat thickness over the 1. dorsi did not differ among groups. Carcass weight and age at slaughter were covariates for the weights of meat cuts. Weights of loin, round, or plate cuts did not differ among groups. However, the rib cut from the 1/4-Brahman was lighter than that from the cattalo and Hereford, and the chuck cut was heavier. The Hereford exceeded the 1/4-Brahman in total weight of the more expensive rib–loin–round cuts. Warner-Bratzler shear estimates of tenderness did not differ among groups. Average fat thickness over the 1. dorsi was not significantly correlated to any of the means of the shear test on raw or broiled samples. In general, 1/4-Brahman and Hereford groups each exhibited superiority over the other two groups for several traits, while cattalo bulls did not exceed the other two groups in any of the traits considered in this study.


1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 953-957 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. D. King ◽  
R. A. Petracek ◽  
R. D. H. Cohen ◽  
C. L. Guenther

Charolais (C), Maine-Anjou (MA), Simmental (S) and Brown Swiss (SB) bulls were evaluated using production traits of their steer calves from birth to slaughter. Traits measured were calving ease, birth weight, preweaning average daily gain (ADG), adjusted weaning weight, ADG to slaughter; liveweight at slaughter, days on feed, carcass weight, grade fat, loin-eye area, cutability and dressing percent. For most traits the ranking was MA ≥ C ≥ S ≥ SB. Key words: Beef sire, calving ease, growth, carcass


1975 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 955-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. M. BOWDEN ◽  
N. B. McLAUGHLIN ◽  
S. FREYMAN

Whole-plant silages made from a tillering corn hybrid (Zea mays L.) and a nontillering corn hybrid had similar digestibilities of dry matter, energy, and protein as assessed with wether sheep. When the silages were fed as the only feed for 56 days to yearling Hereford steers weighing an average of 370 kg, the intake of silage from the nontillering corn tended to be low and the steers only maintained their weight. Steers fed silage from the tillering corn gained 0.45 kg/day. However, with supplemental steamed, rolled barley being given for the remainder of the 112 days, average weight gains for the total period did not differ significantly (P < 0.05) between steers on the two silages. When barley was fed with each of the silages at 0.5% of body weight, the average daily gain of steers for 112 days was the same for the two silages (0.79 kg/day). The digestible energy consumed per unit of gain did not differ significantly (P < 0.05) between the two silages. We conclude that, when fed with a limited amount of barley, silages of equal feeding value could be made from tillering and nontillering corn hybrids grown in southern Alberta.


1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. A. Goonewardene ◽  
P. A. Day ◽  
N. Patrick ◽  
H. D. Scheer ◽  
D. Patrick ◽  
...  

Birth weights of Boer (BO) sired kids were 9% higher than Alpine (AL) sired kids. Weaning, 160 d weight and preweaning average daily gain (ADG) were similar for the AL × AL, AL × SA and BO × AL. Breed of dam was significant (P < 0.02) for birth, weaning, 100-d weight, and preweaning ADG. Similar dressing percentage (DP) and ribeye muscle area (REA) were observed among AL × AL, AL × SP, and BO × SP crosses. Key words: Crossbreeding, Boer, Alpine, growth, carcass, ultrasound


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document