Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T22:23:07.683Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Relationships between velocity of ultrasound in live lactating dairy cows and some post-slaughter measurements of body composition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

W. E. Ivings ,
M. J. Gibb ,
M. S. Dhanoa  and
A. V. Fisher
W. E. Ivings
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 5LR
M. J. Gibb
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 5LR
M. S. Dhanoa
Affiliation:
AFRC Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Hurley, Maidenhead SL6 5LR
A. V. Fisher
Affiliation:
Department of Meat Animal Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS18 7DY
Get access

Abstract

During an experiment to measure changes in body composition of lactating Holstein-Friesian dairy cows, the velocity of ultrasound (VOS) through two hindquarter sites and a shoulder site was measured. Fifty-four cows were offered grass silage ad libitum with 3, 6 or 9 kg dry matter (DM) per day of concentrates. Six cows were slaughtered 2 to 4 days post partum (week 0) and two from each diet at 2, 5, 8, 11,14,19, 24 and 29 weeks post partum. After slaughter the right half-carcass and organs were frozen and minced before chemical analysis and the left half-carcass from 15 animals was jointed and fully dissected into bone, muscle, subcutaneous and intermuscular fat and other tissues. The relationships between the VOS measurements, together with live weight (LW) and the proportions of dissected fat and muscle tissues in the half carcass were examined and found to be comparable with published data for beef cattle. The relationships of the VOS measurements and LW to chemically determined fat and crude protein (CP) and derived estimates of energy were examined for the carcass and for the whole empty body, and found to account for proportionately 0·66 to 0·87 of the variance. The use of this noninvasive technique to monitor changes in body composition of dairy cows during lactation is therefore suggested as a useful and reliable technique. Dissection of a small inexpensive abdominal sample joint to estimate the fat: muscle ratio of the carcass was found to account for 0·85 of the variance. Finally, the relationship between dissected fat and muscle tissue weights in the half carcass and chemical fat and CP weights in the carcass and empty body were examined and found to be highly correlated.

Keywords

body compositioncarcass compositionHolstein-Friesianlactationultrasound
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 56 , Issue 1 , February 1993 , pp. 9 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bauman, D. E. and Elliot, M. J. 1983. Control of nutrient partitioning in lactating ruminants. In Biochemistry of lactation (ed. Mepham, T. B.), pp. 437–468. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Bradstreet, R. B. 1969. The Kjeldahl method for organic nitrogen. Academic Press, New York..Google Scholar
Cook, G. L., Jones, D. W. and Kempster, A. J. 1983. A note on a simple criterion for choosing among sample joints for use in double sampling. Animal Production 36: 493–495.Google Scholar
Dinkel, C. A., Wilson, L. L., Tuma, H. J. and Minyard, J. A. 1965. Ratios and percents as measures of carcass traits. Journal of Animal Science 24: 425–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ellenberger, H. B., Newlander, J. A. and Jones, C. H. 1950. Composition of the bodies of dairy cattle. Bulletin, Vermont Agricultural Experimental Station, no. 558.Google Scholar
Ferrell, C. L. and Jenkins, T. G. 1984. Relationships among various body components of mature cows. Journal of Animal Science 58: 222–233.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, A. V., Wood, J. D. and Whelehan, O. P. 1986. The effects of a combined androgenic-oestrogenic anabolic agent in steers and bulls. 1. Growth and carcass composition. Animal Production 42: 203–211.Google Scholar
Fursey, G. A. J., Miles, C. A., Page, S. J. and Fisher, A. V. 1991. Speed of ultrasound in Hereford bulls and its correlation with carcass composition. Animal Production 52: 263–269.Google Scholar
Gibb, M. J., Ivings, W. E., Dhanoa, M. S. and Sutton, J. D. 1992. Changes in body components of autumn-calving Holstein-Friesian cows over the first 29 weeks of lactation. Animal Production 55: 339–360.Google Scholar
Kempster, A. J. and Jones, D. W. 1977. Relationships between the lean content of joints and overall lean content in steer carcasses of different breeds and crosses. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 88: 193–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miles, C. A., Fursey, G. A. J. and York, R. W. R. 1984. New equipment for measuring the speed of ultrasound and its application in the estimation of body composition of farm livestock. In In vivo measurement of body composition in meat animals (ed. Lister, D.), pp. 93–105. Elsevier Applied Science, London.Google Scholar
Numerical Algorithms Group. 1987. Maximum likelihood program (by Ross, G. J. S.), p. 5.22. Lawes Agricultural Trust, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden.Google Scholar
Pettinati, J. D. and Swift, C. E. 1975. Rapid determination of fat in meat and meat products by Foss-Let solvent extraction and density measurement. Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists 58: 1182–1187.Google Scholar
Pettinati, J. D. and Swift, C. E. 1977. Collaborative study of accuracy and precision of rapid determination of fat in meat and meat products by Foss-Let method. Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists 60: 853–858.Google Scholar
Porter, S. J., Owen, M. G., Page, S. J. and Fisher, A. V. 1990. Comparison of seven ultrasonic techniques for in vivo estimation of beef carcass composition with special reference to performance testing. Animal Production 51: 489–495.Google Scholar
Simm, G. 1983. The use of ultrasound to predict the carcass composition of live cattle — a review. Animal Breeding Abstracts 51: 853–875.Google Scholar
Sutton, J. D., Aston, K., Beever, D. E. and Fisher, W. J. 1992. Body composition and performance of autumn-calving Holstein-Friesian dairy cows during lactation: food intake, milk constituent output and live weight. Animal Production 54: 473 (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Williams, D. R. and Bergstrom, P. L. 1980. Anatomical jointing, tissue separation and weight recording. EEC standard method for beef. Commission of the European Communities, Brussels. EUR 6878 EN (Mimeograph).Google Scholar
Wright, I. A. and Russel, A. J. F. 1984. Estimation in vivo of the chemical composition of the bodies of mature cows. Animal Production 38: 33–44.Google Scholar