Estimation of environmental effects and genetic parameters of carcass traits on Chikso (Korean brindle cattle)

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was i) to identify the characteristics of carcass traits in Chikso by gender, region, age at slaughter, and coat color using the carcass data collected from the nationwide pedigree information and coat color investigation, and ii) to estimate genetic parameters for breed improvement.Methods: A linear model was used to analyze the environmental effects on the carcass traits and to estimate genetic parameters. Analysis of variance was performed using TYPE III sum of squares for the unbalanced data provided by the general linear model procedure. Variance components for genetic parameters was estimated using REMLF90 of the BLUPF90 family programs.Results: Phenotypic performance of carcass weight (CW), eye muscle area (EMA), and backfat thickness (BF) in Chikso were lower than those of Hanwoo. This is a natural outcome because Hanwoo have undergone significant efforts for improvement at the national level, a phenomenon not observed in Chikso. Another factor influencing the above outcome was the smaller population size of Chikso compared to that of Hanwoo’s. The heritabilities of CW, EMA, BF, and marbling score in Chikso were estimated as 0.50, 0.37, 0.35, and 0.53, respectively, which were was higher than those of Hanwoo.Conclusion: Based on the genetic parameters that were estimated in this study, it is expected that the carcass traits will improve when the livestock research institutes at each province conduct small-scale performance tests and the semen is provided to farmers after selecting proven bulls using the state-of-art selection technique such as genomic selection.

Environmental Factors and Genetic Parameters of Beef Traits in Fleckvieh Cattle Using Field and Station Testing

“…The FAT percentage (b = 0.0018 and 0.0004, respectively) increases with growing age and MUS (b = 0.0218) also improves slightly. The age at slaughter is given as a statistically significant factor by a number of authors, e.g., [ 14 , 15 , 20 ]. According to these authors, both the carcass weight and fatness increase with growing age [ 14 ].…”

“…The age at slaughter is given as a statistically significant factor by a number of authors, e.g., [ 14 , 15 , 20 ]. According to these authors, both the carcass weight and fatness increase with growing age [ 14 ]. A significant increase in weight and reduction in daily weight gain at the end of the fattening period was confirmed by [ 7 , 8 ].…”

“…The conclusive influence of the season and year of birth on meat yield indicators is stated by [ 15 ]. The conclusive influence of the herd, year of birth and season on selected meat yield traits is also stated for various breeds [ 14 , 27 ].…”

“…Some studies also include the effect of the year and month of slaughter as a statistically significant factor [21] Slaughterhouse: the influence of the site of the slaughter house, only evaluated in the F method, was always statistically significant. As well as other authors, the effect of the site of slaughter was included in [14,21]. MUS: the muscularity effect was only evaluated for the S method and, with the exception of when it appeared as a dependent variable, it was always used as a fixed factor, which was always statistically significant.…”

“…These and other meat yield indicators and carcass composition rating values were analyzed in the Fleckvieh breed by Chládek et al [ 7 , 8 ] and other authors [ 3 , 9 , 10 ]. A number of authors [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ] pursued the links between meat yield indicators, particularly genetic correlation, in great detail. For example, [ 15 ] discussed the estimates of genetic parameters in Fleckvieh.…”