Growth performance, carcass and meat characteristics of female and male Kadon pigs

Abstract

This study describes the carcass and meat characteristics of native. Thai Kadon pigs. Female and male Kadon pigs were either housed individually or in groups and growth performance was measured. At the end of the feeding period, the pigs were killed and organ weights were determined. Carcass characteristics were measured as percentage ham and loin weight and thickness of back fat. There were 8 females and 8 males housed in individual pens for a period df 45 days. Another 8 females were housed together and so were 8 males, both females and males being kept for 90 days. The female pigs were heavier than the male pigs, the difference being most pronounced in the individually housed animals. For individually housed males with initial weight of 8 kg and final weight of 20 kg, average daily gain win about 290 g day-1 and for the females with initial weight of 10 kg and final weight of 25 kg, it was 315 g day-1. For the group-housed pigs there were no significant differences in weight gain, carcass weight, percentage of carcass and back fat between female and male pigs. The carcass weight was about 65% of slaughter weight. The weight of head, tail, heart, liver, lung, spleen, kidney and large intestine were not different between males and females, but the stomach and small intestine were heavier in females than in males. The loin meat contained about 8.7% fat and 21.4% protein as measured by proximate analysis. Palmitic and oleic acid represented about 26 and 40% of the total loin fatty acids as measured by gas-liquid chromatography. There was no gender difference in carcass composition and fatty acid profile of meat. It is appreciated that the data presented will be affected by diet composition and management, but this study is the first to document reference data for Kadon pigs. © 2008 Asian Network for Scientific Information.