• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.8
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• pp.1075-1079
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• 2005

The main objective of this study is to examine genetic changes in growth rate and carcass composition traits in group housed, ad libitum fed pigs, from lines of Large White divergently selected over four years for high and low post-weaning daily gain on a fixed but restricted ration. Genetic parameters for production and carcass traits were also estimated by using average information-restricted maximum likelihood applied to a multivariate individual animal model. All analyses were carried out on 1,728 records of group housed ad libitum fed pigs, and include a full pedigree of 5,324 animals. Estimates of heritability (standard errors in parentheses) were 0.11 (0.04) for lifetime daily liveweight gain (LDG), 0.13 (0.04) for daily carcass weight gain (CDG) and 0.28 (0.06) for carcass backfat (CFT). Genetic correlations between LDG and CDG were highly positive and between LDG and CFT negative, suggesting that selection for lifetime daily gain under commercial conditions of group housing with ad libitum feeding would result in favourable improvement in carcass traits. CFT showed negative genetic correlations with CDG. Correlated genetic responses evaluated as estimated breeding values (EBVs) were obtained from a multivariate animal model-best linear unbiased prediction analysis. After four years of divergent selection for 6 week post-weaning growth rate on restricted feeding, pigs performance tested on ad libitum feeding in groups exhibited changes in EBVs of 6.77 and -9.93 (g/d) for LDG, 4.25 and -7.08 (g/d) for CDG, and -1.42 and 1.55 (mm) for CFT, in the high and low lines, respectively. It is concluded that selection for growth rate on restricted feeding would significantly improve genetic performance and carcass composition of their descendants when group housed and ad libitum fed as is a common commercial practice.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1379-1383
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• 2006

A total of 6,804 records for Duroc breed were collected from three farms registered at the Korean Animal Improvement Association (KAIA) from 1998 to 2004 of which both records from two ultrasound modes (A and B) were analyzed to estimate the variance components of carcass traits. Three carcass traits backfat thickness (bf), loin eye muscle area (lma) and lean meat percentage (lmp) were measured. These traits were analyzed separately as bf1, lma1 and lmp1 for ultrasound mode A and bf2, lma2 and lmp2 for ultrasound mode B with multiple trait animal model by using MTDFREML (Boldman et al., 1993). All the traits revealed medium heritability values. Estimated heritabilities for bf1, bf2, lma1, lma2, lmp1 and lmp2 were 0.45, 0.39, 0.32, 0.25, 0.28 and 0.39, respectively. Estimated genetic correlations for traits bf1 and bf2, lma1 and lma2, lmp1 and lmp2 were positive but low. Specifically, genetic correlations between bf1 and bf2 was 0.30 while the estimates for lean traits between lma1 and lma2 and between lmp1 and lmp2 were 0.15 and 0.18, respectively. Conversely, high negative genetic correlations existed between bf1 and the lean traits lma2, lmp2. Likewise, the estimated genetic correlations between lma1 and lma2 and lmp1 and lmp2 were low.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.506-510
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• 1999

A study was made of the effects of genetic and environmental factors on ultrasonic estimates of carcass traits of Japanese Brown cows. The M. longissimus thoracis area (MLTA), Subcutaneous (SFT) and Inter Muscular (IMFT) Fat Thickness, Rib Thickness (RT) and Beef Marbling Score (BMS) were scanned at the $7^th$ rib by ultrasound. Significant differences between sires, raising place, birth year and season were found for all traits. The heritabilities estimates for sire or Maternal Grand Sire (MGS) on ultrasonic estimates of carcass traits ranged from 0.05~0.14. Genetic and phenotypic correlations among the ultrasonic estimates were positive (0.13~0.88 and 0.24~0.75). Raising place effects were significant for all traits and the differences were between $30.8{\sim}33.5cm^2$ for MLTA and 0.46~0.67 for BMS. Cows born in 1988 tended to have high MLTA, SFT, IMFT and RT but low BMS. Cows born in spring tended to have high MLTA. Cows born in winter or autumn tended to have high BMS. The interaction effects of birth year with birth season were significant for both. MLTA and BMS.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.50 no.5
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• pp.601-612
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• 2008

This study was conducted to figure out how the shape of Hanwoo changes over time, examine the rank correlations between the carcass traits which are the selection traits and parameters of growth curve, and determine the correlation between body shape and carcass. Body weight, body measurements and carcass traits were measured from 161 castrated Hanwoo, and 12 growth traits and 5 carcass traits were investigated in total. The logistic model(Nelder, 1961) used for the estimation of growth curve parameters and growth characteristics at inflection point were calculated by these growth curve parameters. The value of this parameter was greatest for pinbone width, which suggests that it is an early ripening trait, while it was lowest for chest girth, suggesting it to be a late ripening trait. The rank correlations of chest depth, chest width, and hip width with backfat thickness steadily increased from 6 to 24 months, while the rank correlations of other traits decreased after 18 months until 24 months of age. Only phenotypic records were analyzed in this study, but for examine the genetic changes over growth phase in Hanwoo, if another additional genetic analysis like as estimation of genetic parameters should achieve, body measurements may be useful traits in proven bull selection.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.611-616
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• 2006

Genetic parameters for performance traits on 409 bulls and growth and carcass traits on 591 of their steer progeny were estimated in Japanese Black cattle with Gibbs sampling. Traits of bulls included body weight at the start (BWS) and finish (BWF) of test, daily gain (DG), concentrate, roughage and TDN intake, and TDN conversion ratio. Progeny traits were BWS, BWF, DG, rib eye area, marbling score (MSR), dressing percentage and subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT). In bulls, heritabilities were high for BWS (0.50) and BWF (0.63) and moderate for concentrate (0.48) and TDN intake (0.45), while in progeny, the heritability for all the studied traits was moderate to high (ranging from 0.30 to 0.73), highlighting the potential for genetic improvement of these traits. Genetic correlations between TDN intake and growth traits (BWS, BWF and DG) in bulls were highly positive (ranging from 0.77 to 0.94). The weak but negative genetic correlation (-0.20) between MSR and SFT in progeny indicated that improvement of beef marbling without increasing subcutaneous fat deposition could be possible. The estimated genetic correlations of roughage intake of bulls with body weights (BWS and BWF) and MSR of their progeny were moderate (ranging from 0.35 to 0.52). On the basis of the selection for bulls, growth traits and TDN intake correlated positively with SFT (ranging from 0.43 to 0.53) of their progeny, suggesting the necessity of controlling the increase of SFT in selection programs.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.57 no.11
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• pp.39.1-39.5
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• 2015

The effects of castration time on growth and carcass traits of elk bulls were investigated. Twelve bulls at 5 years old were raised and fed on concentrate with ad libitum hay. All animals were allocated randomly to each of four treatment groups (3 heads/group). Groups of each treatment were castrated surgically in March, April or June and managed together with non-castration (entire) treatment. All elk bulls in the trial were slaughtered at same time. Growth parameters, carcass yield and composition were recorded. The total gain and average daily gain was higher when castrated in April (p < 0.05). The entire elk produced heaviest and highest in saddle and brisket portions (p < 0.05). It is apparent that the castrate animals carried more total fat weight and percentages than the entire males (p < 0.05). It was found that loin muscles from non-castrated elk, in comparison with those from castrated one, had higher content of moisture and lower content of fat (p < 0.05). In this study, growth parameters, carcass yields and chemical composition were greatly affected by castration time.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.1083-1094
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• 2016

Carcass and price traits of 72,969 Hanwoo cows, bulls and steers aged 16 to 80 months at slaughter collected from 2002 to 2013 at 75 beef packing plants in Korea were analyzed to determine heritability, correlation and breeding value using the Multi-Trait restricted maximum likelihood (REML) animal model procedure. The traits included carcass measurements, scores and grades at 24 h postmortem and bid prices at auction. Relatively high heritability was found for maturity ($0.41{\pm}0.031$), while moderate heritability estimates were obtained for backfat thickness ($0.20{\pm}0.018$), longissimus muscle (LM) area ($0.23{\pm}0.020$), carcass weight ($0.28{\pm}0.019$), yield index ($0.20{\pm}0.018$), yield grade ($0.16{\pm}0.017$), marbling ($0.28{\pm}0.021$), texture ($0.14{\pm}0.016$), quality grade ($0.26{\pm}0.016$) and price/kg ($0.24{\pm}0.025$). Relatively low heritability estimates were observed for meat color ($0.06{\pm}0.013$) and fat color ($0.06{\pm}0.012$). Heritability estimates for most traits were lower than those in the literature. Genetic correlations of carcass measurements with characteristic scores or quality grade of carcass ranged from -0.27 to +0.21. Genetic correlations of yield grade with backfat thickness, LM area and carcass weight were 0.91, -0.43, and -0.09, respectively. Genetic correlations of quality grade with scores of marbling, meat color, fat color and texture were -0.99, 0.48, 0.47, and 0.98, respectively. Genetic correlations of price/kg with LM area, carcass weight, marbling, meat color, texture and maturity were 0.57, 0.64, 0.76, -0.41, -0.79, and -0.42, respectively. Genetic correlations of carcass price with LM area, carcass weight, marbling and texture were 0.61, 0.57, 0.64, and -0.73, respectively, with standard errors ranging from ${\pm}0.047$ to ${\pm}0.058$. The mean carcass weight breeding values increased by more than 8 kg, whereas the mean marbling scores decreased by approximately 0.2 from 2000 through 2009. Overall, the results suggest that genetic improvement of productivity and carcass quality could be obtained under the national scale breeding scheme of Korea for Hanwoo and that continuous efforts to improve the breeding scheme should be made to increase genetic progress.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.1057-1067
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• 2020

Objective: This study evaluated the effect of pedigree errors (PEs) on the accuracy of estimated breeding value (EBV) and genetic gain for carcass traits in Korean Hanwoo cattle. Methods: The raw data set was based on the pedigree records of Korean Hanwoo cattle. The animals' information was obtained using Hanwoo registration records from Korean animal improvement association database. The record comprised of 46,704 animals, where the number of the sires used was 1,298 and the dams were 38,366 animals. The traits considered were carcass weight (CWT), eye muscle area (EMA), back fat thickness (BFT), and marbling score (MS). Errors were introduced in the pedigree dataset through randomly assigning sires to all progenies. The error rates substituted were 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, and 80%, respectively. A simulation was performed to produce a population of 1,650 animals from the pedigree data. A restricted maximum likelihood based animal model was applied to estimate the EBV, accuracy of the EBV, expected genetic gain, variance components, and heritability (h²) estimates for carcass traits. Correlation of the simulated data under PEs was also estimated using Pearson's method. Results: The results showed that the carcass traits per slaughter year were not consistent. The average CWT, EMA, BFT, and MS were 342.60 kg, 78.76 ㎠, 8.63 mm, and 3.31, respectively. When errors were introduced in the pedigree, the accuracy of EBV, genetic gain and h² of carcass traits was reduced in this study. In addition, the correlation of the simulation was slightly affected under PEs. Conclusion: This study reveals the effect of PEs on the accuracy of EBV and genetic parameters for carcass traits, which provides valuable information for further study in Korean Hanwoo cattle.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.339-345
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• 2013

The objective of this study was to establish genetic evaluation systems with carcass data collected by 68 individual farms from 2007 to 2011 in Pyeongchang area of Kangwon province. All the possible of environment effects were corrected by analysis of variance (ANOVA) to estimate more accurate genetic parameters. Heritabilities and genetic correlations were estimated from carcass data collected from Hanwoo steers(n=10,441) born in Pyeongchang region from 2005 to 2008. Traits evaluated included carcass weight (CWT), eye muscle area (EMA), back fat thickness (BF) and marbling score (MS). As for the mean value and standard deviation for carcass traits, CWT, EMA, BF and MS were 424.5, 92, 13.7 and 5.7. Parameters were estimated using a multiple trait animal model and derivative-free restricted maximum likelihood procedures. Estimated heritabilities for CWT, EMA, BF and MS were 0.30, 0.21, 0.42 and 0.42, respectively. Genetic correlation of CWT with EMA, BF and MS were estimated to 0.24, 0.36 and 0.07, respectively. Genetic correlation of EMA with BF and MS was -0.27 and 0.61, respectively.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.689-698
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• 2007

This study aims to estimate the genetic parameters for carcass traits on Hanwoo of breeding farmhouses using Animal Products Grading Service’s data of 428,812 cattle from 101 slaughterhouses nationwide from 2000 to 2005. Using carcass traits of carcass weight, eye muscle area, backfat thickness, marbling score, meat color and fat color that greatly influence Hanwoo's grade, the effects of carcass year, carcass season, sex and carcass region were estimated. Based upon carcass traits of carcass weight, eye muscle area, backfat thickness, marbling score and meat color that greatly influence Hanwoo’s grade, the heritabilities and genetic parameters were estimated of 17,578 Hanwoo slaughtered in 2005 with existing herdbook, where EM-REML algorithm was used in estimating genetic parameters. The mean and standard deviation of each carcass trait are 321.42±53.62kg, 76.25±10.43cm2, 9.96± 4.14mm, 3.75±2.00, 4.83±0.48 and 2.99±0.40, for carcass weight, eye muscle area, backfat thickness, marbling score, meat color and fat color, respectively. As a result of analysis on the effects of carcass year, the carcass weight, backfat thickness and meat color came out highest as 359.40±0.181, 9.82±0.017 and 4.90±0.002, respectively in 2004. As a result of analysis on the effects of carcass season, the carcass weight and eye muscle area came out highest as 345.88±0.144 and 79.57±0.033 respectively in spring, and the backfat thickness was highest as 8.78±0.013 in winter, and the meat color and fat color slightly came out higher as 4.88±0.002 and 2.96±0.001 in fall, while the marbling score was highest as 3.29±0.006 in summer. The results of the analysis on the effects of sex indicated that the backfat thickness and fat color were highest as 10.53±0.010 and 3.07±0.001 in cow, the carcass weight came out highest in Hanwoo steer as 368.03±0.068kg, the eye muscle area were highest as 82.96±0.042 in bull, and the marbling score was highest as 4.19±0.007 in steer, and the meat color was highest as 4.89±0.001 in cow. Regarding the results of analysis on the effects of carcass region, the carcass weight, eye muscle area,