Body weight asymmetry as an animal welfare concern on carcass yield, ham proximate composition, mineral and lipid profiles of growing pigs

摘要

The experiment was carried out to evaluate effect of weight asymmetry on carcass yield, ham proximate composition, minerals and lipid profdes of growing pigs. A total offifty four (54) Large White growing pigs with mean weight of 15.33+0.02 kg was placed into three treatment groups based on weight range (Homozygous heavy weight, homozygous light weight and heterozygous weight) for a twenty week study. Eighteen growing pigs served as a treatment group which was further divided into 3 replicate groupsof 6 pigs per replicate. At the end of20n week study, 6 pigs per treatment i.e. 2 pigs per replicate were selected, fasted and slaughteredfor carcass yield evaluation. The ham muscle was excised and used to determine pork proximate composition, mineralsand lipid profiles. Data collected were subjected I-way Analysis of Variance utilizing SAS software while significant differences were separated using New Duncan Multiple Range Test as contained in the same statistical package. Result revealed that the prime cut parts (ham, shoulder and puck weights) were significantly higher in homogeneous light weight pigs. Most of ham proximate composition were positively influenced by weight asymmetry. Likewise, weight asymmetry affected total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoprotein, potassium and magnesium values of growing pigs. Heterogeneous weight pigs had highest total cholesterol value of94.61+2.77 mg/dl and the least value of85.33+3.41 mg/dl was notedfor homogeneous light weight pigs. It can beconcluded from this present study that grouping pigs on uniform weight basis especially light weight groups enhanced the welfare of pigs as shown by improvement in pork characteristics and composition.