EVALUATION OF PIG GENOTYPES .2. TESTING EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

An experiment was designed to quantify the specific genetic parameters which will describe the growth potential of a pig. The experiment was conducted in two stages. In the early stage, 11 unimproved crossbred pigs were serially slaughtered at 2, 13 and 23 days of age. In the lat er phase, 16 pigs were serially slaughtered at 80, 90 and 100 kg live weight. The chemical composition of each of the entire empty bodies wa s determined. Linear regression analyses were performed on body protei n and lipid weights to determine the Gompertz growth parameter (B), ma ture body protein weight (Pm) and the lipid : protein ratio at maturit y (LPRm). The B value for boars was 0.0107 (s.e. 0.00060) per day and for females 0.0120 (s.e. 0.00044) per day. Pm estimates were 38.7 kg a nd 28.4 kg whilst the LPRm ratios were 2.60 and 3.89 for boars and gil ts respectively.