The objective of this study was to quantify the genetic associations between a range of carcass-related traits including wholesale cut weights predicted from video image analysis (VIA) technology, and a range of pre-slaughter performance traits in commercial Irish cattle. Predicted carcass cut weights comprised of cut weights based on retail value: lower value cuts (LVC), medium value cuts (MVC...

the estimation of metallurgical parameters of flotation process from froth visual features is the ultimate goal of a machine vision based control system. in this study, a batch flotation system was operated under different process conditions and metallurgical parameters and froth image data were determined simultaneously. algorithms have been developed for measuring textural and physical froth ...

This study evaluated the effects of physical activity on blood, growth, carcass, and meat quality finishing Alentejano (AL) pigs. Pigs, reared from ~87 to 160 kg in individual pens (no exercise area, NE group, n = 9) or an outdoor park (with WE 9), were fed commercial diets (85% ad libitum). pigs a (~400 m2) with feeding area separated drinking automatic waterer, forcing walk at least 800 m dai...

Reduction of feed costs is a major concern of poultry producers. However, replacement of components of a corn-soybean diet with a lower-cost alternative requires the assessment not only of poultry performance and carcass characteristics but also of resulting meat quality. A brief overview of research studies, conducted over the past 10 yr, investigating the effects of alternative poultry feedst...

The majority of natural gases are mixtures of saturated hydrocarbons where methane prevails; they come from underground accumulations of gases alone or gases associated with oil. There are thus as many compositions of natural gases as exploited hydrocarbon layers. Apart from the methane which is the prevailing element, the crude natural gas usually contains decreasing volumetric percentages of ...

The cost of reproduction theory posits that there are trade-offs between current and future reproduction because resources that are allocated to current offspring cannot be used for future reproductive opportunities. Two adaptive reproductive strategies have been hypothesized to offset the costs of reproduction and maximize lifetime fitness. The terminal investment hypothesis predicts that as i...

Genetic and sex differences or variation in carcass characteristic and slaughter yield were studied using a total of 150 intensively reared and clinically normal chickens consisted of 50 each of normal feather, naked neck and frizzled matured chickens genotypes. The result showed that genotype as well as sex have significant effect (P<0.05) on carcass characteristics and slaughter yield at twen...

BACKGROUND Obesity and emaciation in horses have major detrimental effects on health and morbidity, reproductive failure, work performance or carcass quality. Scoring is a current management tool used to assess and monitor equine body condition due to its simplicity and low cost. However, accurate assessment of obesity remains a challenge, even though a number of approaches have been tested, pa...

An exhaustive review of estimates of heritability (h) for a broad spectrum of beef production traits published in the scientific literature from 1945 to 1991 was conducted by Koots et al. (1994), but their review did not include other important carcass traits (e.g., kidney, pelvic, and heart fat percentage, yield grade, fat weight) and due to the purpose of their study, individual estimates of ...