Data from the first four cycles of the Germplasm Evaluation Program at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) were used to investigate genetic relationships between mature weight (MW, n = 37,710), mature weight adjusted for body condition score (AMW, n = 37,676), mature height (HT, n = 37,123), and BCS (n = 37,676) from 4- to 8-yr old cows (n = 1,800) and carcass traits (n = 4,027) measu...

Problem statement: Endogenous enzymes of broilers cannot adequately digest nonstarch polysaccharides and subsequently the ingestion of high levels of soluble NSP leads to increased digesta viscosity and reduced nutrient digestibility and absorption. Supplementation of NSPs degrading enzymes may remove the anti nutritive effects of NSPs and release some nutrients (starch, protein) from these ele...

Carcass traits have been successfully used to determine body composition of steers. Body composition, in turn, has been used to predict energy content of ADG to compute feed requirements of individual animals fed in groups. This information is used in the Cornell value discovery system (CVDS) to predict DM required (DMR) for the observed animal performance. In this experiment, the prediction of...

The objective of this study was to characterize breeds representing diverse biological types for postweaning growth and carcass composition traits in terminal crossbred cattle. Postweaning growth and carcass traits were analyzed on 434 steers and 373 heifers obtained by mating F1 cows to Charolais sires. Maternal grandsires represented Hereford, Angus, and MARC III (1⁄4 Hereford, 1⁄4 Angus, 1⁄4...

Empty body and carcass chemical compositions, expressed as content of water, ether extract, protein, minerals, and energy, were evaluated in Nellore bulls with different residual feed intakes (RFI). Forty-nine not castrated males, with 343 kg of average initial BW and 398 kg of average slaughter BW, were studied. Animals were divided in two subgroups: reference group (RG) and ad libitum feeding...

Betaine is donor of methyl groups and can partially replace methionine in diets for this purpose. The objective of this study was to evaluate three sources of betaine in partial substitution of methionine supplement in broiler diets. The Cobb-500 broiler chickens were allocated in a completely randomized experimental design with 5 treatments and 7 replicates of 49 birds each. The positive contr...

Four groups of goats, Boer x Spanish, straightbred Spanish, Spanish x Angora, and straightbred Angora were slaughtered at a constant age according to accepted industry procedures. At 24 h postmortem, various carcass yield and quality measurements were taken. At 48 h postmortem, one side from each carcass was fabricated into major wholesale cuts for dissection into percentage lean, bone, and fat...