Sire breed effect on carcass and temperament traits

Abstract

This paper aimed to identify and evaluate the effects of sire breed on temperament and productive traits of different cross-breeds between Nellore (NE), Tabapua (TB), and Brahman (BR) bulls mated with Angus cows (AN), as well as the relationship between temperament and productive traits. The productive traits measured in this study include slaughter weight and post weaning weight gain. Temperament was assessed by flight-speed (FS). Carcass data collected in this study include hot carcass weight, hot carcass percentage, cold dressing percentage, carcass length, initial pH, ultimate pH, subcutaneous fat thickness and carcass longissimus muscle area. The sire breed effect was greater for slaughter weight. Hot carcass weight was not affected by the sire breed. The longissimus muscle area was larger for AN x TB and AN x NE crossbreeds than for AN x BR crossbreeds. Subcutaneous fat thickness and cold dressing percentage were not affected by sire breed. The offspring of NE, TB, and BR sires mated with AN cows had similar carcass measurements, except for the longissimus muscle area, which was smaller for offspring sired by the Brahman breed. The temperament trait was not influenced by sire breed.

Keywords

• Beef cattle
• Bos indicus
• Cattle temperament
• Flight
• pH.