RESEARCH IN PIG BREEDING, 11, 2017 (1)

COMPARISON OF THE FATTENING AND SLAUGHTER PARAMETERS OF THE SELECTED CROSSBRED PIGS

Imrich I., Mlyneková E., Mlynek J., Borsos A., Kanka T., Rolinec M., Bučko O.

Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Faculty of Agrobiology and Food Resources, Slovak Republic

Abstract

The aim of our experiment was to assess the effects of the particular crossbreeds and sex on the fattening and slaughter parameters of pigs. 21 animals were evaluated altogether, where two crossbreeds - LW x L x PIC (11 animals) and LW x PIC (10 animals) were used for our testing purposes. The same dry mixture was used for feeding of all the tested pigs. During the growth period - from 30 kg to 100 kg - the following parameters were evaluated: the average daily gain - ADG (g) and feed consumption ratio - FCR (kg). Before slaughter, the final body weight (kg) was monitored and after slaughter, the meat percentage-MP (%), ham percentage-HP (%), loin eye area-LEA (cm2) and back fat thickness-BF (mm) were evaluated. The crossbreed LW x L x PIC (ADG 920.7±85.1 g, FCR 2.66±0.19 kg) had a better growth intensity and efficiency of the feed utilization than the crossbred LW x PIC (ADG 909.0±88.1 g, FCR 2.88±0.25 kg), the differences were not statistically significant. However, comparison of the slaughter parameters have shown that better results were achieved by the crossbreed LW x PIC. Differences between the crossbreeds were not statistically significant, except for the indicator HP (LW x PIC 22.9±1.3 %, LW x L x PIC 21.4±0.9, p<0.05). Better ADG (953.3±66.7 g) was achieved by barrows in comparison to gilts (853.1±75.6 g), this difference was statistically significant (p<0.01). On the other hand, gilts achieved better slaughter efficiency and also had a statistically significantly larger LEA than barrows. Summarization of the above mentioned results shows that fattening parameters and the carcass efficiency of both crossbreeds were similar. However, in view of the market demand for pigs containing a high proportion of meat, the hybrid combination LW x PIC may be considered more advantageous.

Keywords: Crossbred pigs, carcass traits, growth performance