Meat production, feed efficiency and chemical composition traits of meat for Aberdeen Angus steers bulls

Abstract

Relevance. Assessing the meat production of beef cattle to be transformed by involving an ever-increasing phenotypic data to improve the accuracy of genotype estimation of animals. This can be achieved through the use of live weight changes for individuals and feed consumption during the period of their rearing in feedlots. In this regard, the use of automatic feeding stations that record these parameters for a comprehensive assessment of the genotype of Aberdeen-Angus bulls is an important task of these studies.Methods. Information by 212 individuals was used for Aberdeen Angus bulls that underwent final fattening lasting 60–65 days at GrowSafe feeding stations in the Bryansk region (Russia). Data on the slaughter quality of animals, the efficiency of feed using and the chemical composition of meat were studied. The integral value for dividing bulls into four comparison groups was the residual feed intake trait (RFI).Results. The best combination of feed conversion rates (4.95 kg/kg), average daily gain (1.67 kg /day) and consumed dry matter of the diet (8.25 kg) during the fattening period at the site was shown by bulls with a negative RFI value and an increase above 1495 g relative to other comparison groups. The peers from the second group had a similar tendency, but their consumption of dry matter of feed was the highest (8.96 kg). The animals from the second and fourth comparison groups showed a higher moisture-retaining capacity of meat (60.87% and 60.39%) and the total amount of water-soluble antioxidants (0.147 mg/g and 0.148 mg/g) in it. Significant differences in the chemical composition of meat have not been established.