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The genetics of lean meat estimators in a suffolk sire referencing scheme

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2017

G.E. Pollott
Affiliation:
Wye College-University of London, Ashford, Kent, TN25 5AH
D.R. Guy
Affiliation:
Meat and Livestock Commission, P.O.Box 44, Winterhill, Milton Keynes, MK6 1AX
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Extract

The use of ultra-sound scanning to estimate fat and muscle dimensions in live sheep is increasing in Britain. When used in the appropriate recording and genetic schemes these measurements, in conjunction with other information, can be used to estimate body composition in the live animal. Pollott and Guy (1992) have outlined the background and organisation of a sire-referencing scheme in the Suffolk breed, in Britain.

The use of BLUP techniques in this scheme requires the use of appropriate genetic parameters derived using the same model as that used for BLUP estimations. Computer programs utilising the Derivative-Free Restricted Maximum Likelihood (DFREML) technique with the individual animal model have recently become available for use with on-farm recorded data (Meyer, 1989,1991). Data from the Suffolk Sire-Referencing Scheme Ltd (SSRS) were analysed, using DFREML procedures, to estimate the genetic parameters of the lean meat estimators used in the scheme.

Type
Carcass and Meat Quality
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1992

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References

Pollott, G.E. and Guy, D.R. (1992). BSAP Winter Meeting, no.22.Google Scholar
Meyer, K. (1989). Genetics, Selection and Evolution, 21: 317340.Google Scholar
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Simm, G. and Dingwall, W.S. (1989). Lvstk. Prod. Sci., 21: 223233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar