Table Of ContentCurrent Topics in Veterinary Medicine
Volume 2
other titles in this series
Volume 1
Control of Reproduction in the Cow
edited by J. R. Sreenan
Volume 3
Respiratory Diseases in Cattle
edited by W. B. Martin
Patterns of Growth and Development in Cattle
Patterns of Growth and
Development in Cattle
A Seminar in the EEC Programme of Coordination of
Research on Beef Production held at Ghent, October
11-13, 1977
Sponsored by The Commission of the European Communities,
Directorate-General for Agriculture, Coordination of Agricultural Research
Edited by
H. De Boer
Research Institute for Animal Husbandry (Schoonoord)
Zeist
J. Martin
University of Ghent
Martinus Nijhoff - The Hague/Boston/London 1978
for
The Commission of the European Communities
Publication arranged by
Commission of the European Communities,
Directorate-General Scientific and Technical Information
and Information Management, Luxembourg.
EUR 6007 EN
©ECSC, EEC, EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1978
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1978
LEGAL NOTICE
N either the Commission of the European Communities nor any person acting on behalf of the
Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the following information.
ISBN-13: 978-94-009-9758-5 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-9756-1
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-9756-1
Table of contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . XI
Objectives and Background XIII
SECTION 1: PATTERNS OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF BONE, MUSCLE
AND FATTY TISSUE ............................ .
Historical and general review of growth and development
R. W. Pomeroy ................... . 3
Bovine compositional interrelationships
R.G. Kauffman .......... . 13
Dressing percentage in relation to weight, sex and breed
Y. Geay ....................... . 35
Development with age of the anatomical composition of the carcass of bulls
J. Robelin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 47
Biochemistry of muscle in relation to growth
R. A. Lawrie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Development of connective tissue and its characteristics
R. Boccard ................. . 73
Sources of variation in muscle weight distribution
P. L. Bergstrom ........... . 91
Variation and impact of muscle thickness
B. L. Dumont ............ . 133
Bone growth and development with particular reference to breed differences
in carcass shape and lean to bone ratio
A.J. Kempster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
A note on conformation and meat characteristics in beef carcasses
R. Verbeke and G. Van de Voorde ............... . 167
Meat amino acid composition of calves and steers slaughtered between
200 kg and 500 kg live weight
G. Piva and D. Guglielmetti 177
Myorheological, chemical and colour characteristics of meat in water
buffalo and bovine calves slaughtered at 20, 28 and 36 weeks
D. Matassino, A. Romita, E. Cosentino, A. Girolami and P. Colatruglio 187
Assessment of changes in myofibre size in muscle
M.J. Clancy and P.D. Herlihy .......... . 203
VI
Partition and distribution of fatty tissues
D. R. Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Factors affecting the fatty acid composition of depot fats of cattle and other
ruminants
W.M.F. Leat 231
The development of adipose tissue in cattle
M. Enser and J. D. Wood . . . . . . . . . 243
The development of fat cells in different anatomical positions in carcasses of
young bulls, heifers and cow-heifers
Irmgard Schon ............................ 255
Fatty acid composition of fat in water buffalo calves and bovine calves
slaughtered at 20-28 and 36 weeks of age
A. Borghese, S. Gigli, A. Romita, A. Di Giacomo and M. Mormile . . . .. 267
Effect of Finnish landrace and Galway breeds on carcass composition, fat
distribution and fatty acid composition of different fat depots in lambs
J.P. Hanrahan, P. Allen and J.L. L'Estrange 277
Discussion 287
SECTION 2: GROWTH AND NUTRITIONAL EFFICIENCY AND THE EFFECTS OF
GENOTYPE, SEX, HORMONES AND THEIR INTERACTIONS ......... 323
Biological models of quantifying growth and efficiency
V.R. Fowler ............. . 325
Some neuroendocrine aspects of growth
David Lister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Anabolic agents in beef production: their action as growth promoters
R.J. Heitzman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Nutritional efficiency of protein and fat deposition
A.J. H. van Es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Feed efficiency and genotype-nutrition interactions in growing animals,
particularly in cattle for beef production
C. Beranger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Effect of energy level on growth and efficiency
H. Refsgaard Andersen 393
Influence of nutrition on the growth pattern of fattening bulls of two different
breeds (Friesian and Simmental)
K. Rohr and R. Daenicke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 413
Influence of nutrition on body composition and carcass quality of fattening
bulls of different breeds (German Friesian and Simmental)
R. Daenicke and K. Rohr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 423
VII
Nitrogen utilisation of young fattening bulls kept on two different energy
levels
E. Farries .......................... . 435
Genetic variations in growth and body composition of male cattle
J. Robelin, Y. Geay and B. Bonaiti .............. . 443
Effect of breed and interaction with nutrition
H.J. Langholz .............. . 461
Effect of siregroup within breeds on growth and efficiency and interaction
with nutrition
B. Bech Andersen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Efficiency of lean meat production by dairy steers
E. Hind ................... . 495
Multibreed comparisons of body weight and food intake in cattle
R. B. Thiessen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Influence of age, nutrient intake and body type on weight gain and body
composition in young fattening bulls of the breeds German Schwarzbunte
and German Fleckvieh
F.W. Huth .............. . 505
Carcass composition of different breeds
S. Kogel and H. Alps ........ . 515
Growth rates and carcass composition of water buffalo calves and bovine
calves slaughtered at 20, 28 and 36 weeks
A. Romita, A. Borghese, S. Gigli and A. Di Giacomo 523
Discussion 535
SECTION 3: POSSIBILITIES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF BEEF PRODUCTION IN
RELATION TO THE CUSTOMER'S REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 577
Possibilities for fulfilling trade and consumer requirements for meat quality
in present and future beef production systems
Lis Buchter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 579
Targets for beef production in relation to market and consumer require
ments
A. Cuthbertson and G. Harrington 589
Eating quality of buffalo and bovine calves slaughtered at 20-28 and 36
weeks of age
A. Borghese, A. Romita, S. Gigli and A. Di Giacomo 603
Discussion 613
VIII
SECTION 4: METHODS OF QUANTIFYING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT 623
Methods of quantifying growth and development: general review
St. C. S. Taylor ........................ 625
A survey of allometric analysis
R. M. Seebeck . . . . . . . . 639
Growth curves: their nature, uses and estimation
D.J. Finney ................. . 658
Nutritional models of growth
R. H. Fawcett ...... . 673
Quantifying breed difference in shape
H.J.H. MacFie ........... . 691
An approach to the comparison of growth curves of Dutch Friesian, British
Friesian and Holstein Friesian cows
H. Bakker and W.J. Koops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 705
The relationship between growth curve parameters and carcass composition
G. Torreele 717
Discussion 731
SECTION 5: SUMMARY AND NEEDS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 735
Recapitulation and outline for the future 737
General discussion 750
Final considerations
J.H.Oslage .. 757
Closing remarks
H. de Boer 761
List of participants 762
List of Publications in the series on Beef Production
EUR 5545 The Early Calving of Heifers and its impact on Beef Production
A seminar held in Copenhagen, Denmark on June 4-6, 1975. xii+295 pp
Price: EFR 250 DKR 39.30 DM 16.90 FF 30 LIT 4 550
HFL 17.30 UKL 3.10 USD 7.20
EUR 5451 Perinatal ill-health in calves
A seminar held in Compton, England on September 22-24 1975. 200 pp
Price: EFR 200 DKR 31.50 DM 13.50 FF 24 LIT 3 650
HFL 13.80 UKL 2.40 USD 5.80
EUR 5491 Egg Transfer in Cattle
A seminar held in Cambridge, England on December 10-12 1975. 416 pp
Price: EFR 800 DKR 126 DM 54 FF 96 LIT 14 500
HFL 55.30 UKL 9.80 USD 23
EUR 5488 Improving the nutritional efficiency of Beef Production
A seminar held in Theix, France on October 14-17 1975. 402 pp
Price: EFR 350 DKR 55 DM 23.50 FF 42 LIT 6 350
HFL 24.24 UKL 4.25 USD 10.10
EUR 5489 Criteria and methods for assessment of carcass and meat
characteristics in Beef Production experiments
A seminar held in Zeist, The Netherlands on 9-12 November 1975.
406 pp
Price: EFR 600 DKR 94.50 DM 40.50 FF 72 LIT 10 900
HFL 41.50 UKL 7.30 USD 17.20
EUR 5490 Optimization of cattle breeding schemes
A seminar held in Dublin, Ireland on November 26-28 1975. 354 pp
Price: EFR 300 DKR 47.20 DM 20.30 FF 36 LIT 5 450
HFL 20.70 UKL 3.70 USD 8.60
EUR 5492 Crossbreeding experiments and strategy of breed utilization to
inorease beef production
A seminar held in Verden, Franoe on February 9-11, 1976. 490 pp
Prioe: EFR 900 DKR 140.70 DM 57.70 FF 120 LIT 20 950
HFL 60.40 UKL 13.90 USD 24
PREFACE
This publication contains the proceedings of a seminar held
in Ghent, Belgium on October 11th-13th 1977, under the auspices
of the Commission of the European Communities, as part of the
EEC programme of co-ordination of research on beef production.
The seminar was initiated by the scientific working group
on 'Carcass and Meat Quality' and attracted the interest of the
working groups on 'Genetics and Selection' and on 'Nutrition and
Management'. Consequently it developed into a multi-disciplinary
programme, organised under the responsibility of the working group
on Carcass and Meat Quality. This group comprised Ir. H. de Boer
(Chairman), Netherlands; Prof. R. Boccard, France; Dr D.E. Hood,
Ireland; Dr R.W. Pomeroy, UK; Dr A. Romita, Italy; Professor
Dr L. Sch~n, Fed. Rep. of Germany; Mr P. L'Hermite, CEC; and
Dr J.C. Tayler, UK (adviser to the CEC).
In view of the broad scope of the subject, a special plan
ning meeting was organised, involvi.ng experts from the different
disciplines involved. The additional participants were:
Dr B. Bech Andersen, Denmarkj Dr A.J.H. van Es, Netherlands;
Prof. Dr J. Martin, Belgium; Dr. St.C.S. Taylor, UK.
The multidisciplinary scope of this ~eminar follows a
series of seminars in 1975-76 on more specific aspects of beef
production research in the individual fields involved. It seems
logical that further seminars should integrate the approaches by
different disciplin~s in order to achieve a balanced programme
of research on the very complex topic of beef production.
Although a seminar of this type sets high requirements for
the presentation of the specific topics to a multidisciplinary
audience, we feel that very good results have been achieved in
this case. The material brought together in this book could
provide research workers with a valuable view of neighbouring
disciplines, which at the same time retain scientific depth. We
think the purpose of the published contributions may go beyond
