EVALUATION OF PIG GENOTYPES .1. THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF MEASURING GENETIC-PARAMETERS

Predicting the performance of animals is a general problem in animal p roduction, the solution to the problem depending, in part, on being ab le to describe the animals adequately. Numerous approaches have been m ade to model the growth of pigs, with different methods being employed to describe the genotype. A simple approach is to describe the potent ial rate of growth of body protein using a Gompertz equation, and to p redict the growth of the other chemical components of the body using a llometry. These components are added to determine the body weight of t he animal. In this paper an experimental procedure is proposed that wi ll predict values for the parameters of the Gompertz growth equation u nder non-limiting conditions. These parameters include the rate of mat uring of the animal and the mature protein weight. The lipid-to-protei n ratio at maturity is required to describe the allometry between prot ein and lipid. With these few parameter estimates the potential growth rate of animals can be described. It is then possible to use this inf ormation to predict the growth mte of animals under conditions constra ined by the food or the environment.