A COMPARISON OF THE GROWTH, FEED EFFICIENCY AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN PUREBRED HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN STEERS AND LIMOUSIN × HOLSTEIN (F₁) STEERS AND HEIFERS

Abstract

A comparison was made of the growth and carcass characteristics of 39 purebred Holstein-Friesian (HF) steers, 42 Limousin × Holstein-Friesian (Lim × Hol) steers, and 50 Lim × Hol crossbred F 1 heifers. An assessment was also made of the feed consumption at three growth stages (200–300, 300–400 and 400–500 kg) of 20, 21 and 20 animals in each of these three groups, respectively. The two steer groups outgained the heifers at all three stages of growth, while the Lim × Hol steers gained significantly faster (P < 0.05) than the HF only during the 300- to 400-kg growth phase. Rates of growth during the 400- to 500-kg phase were 1.46, 1.53 and 1.04 kg/day for the HF, Lim × Hol steers and heifers, respectively. The heifers had the most estimated carcass fat (20.61%), the Lim × Hol steers the least (15.97%), and the HF were intermediate (18.07%) (P < 0.05). The Lim × Hol steers had the greatest amount of carcass lean (74.20%) (P < 0.05) and the Lim × Hol groups were superior to the HF in carcass conformation when expressed in terms of proportion of high-priced cuts (hind and back). These results indicate that the Lim × Hol steers produced better cutting and more desirable carcasses than purebred Holstein-Friesian steers and the Lim × Hol heifers. The HF steers and Lim × Hol heifers were similar in lean meat production (70.33 ± 0.17%).