Feasibility of Increasing the Slaughter Weight of Finishing Pigs

Abstract

The present review was aimed to assess the feasibility of increasing the slaughter weight (SW) of finishing pigs. Growth performance, including ADG, ADFI and gain:feed, does not change significantly with increasing SW between 110 and 135±5 kg in lean-genotype pigs, whereas in non-lean pigs, ADG and gain:feed decrease with increasing SW within the similar range of BW. Backfat thickness (BFT) and marbling of the carcass, which are greater in barrows than in gilts, increase with the increase of SW. The SW could be increased by using a low-energy diet and thereby reducing the rate of fat deposition per weight gain. The yield of the belly increases with the increase of SW, which may be economically significant in Korea. However, yields of some other primal cuts do not change so much as to affect the carcass value. The redness and fat content of the muscle increase slightly with the increase of SW whereas moisture content is minimally influenced by SW. Muscular protein content rarely changes, but sometimes increases slightly, with increasing SW. Other physicochemical characteristics, including lightness, pH, drip loss, and cooking loss of the muscle, are barely influenced by SW. Marbling of fresh loin and ham increases with increasing SW. Sensory characteristics of fresh loin, ham, and belly, including color, aroma, off-flavor, drip, and acceptability, are not influenced significantly by SW. The eating quality of cooked pork also has almost no relation to SW. In conclusion, it is thought that the current SW for moderately lean barrows and gilts can be raised up to 125 and 135 kg, respectively, with BFT at these weights predicted to be approximately 24 mm near the last rib, without compromising the meat quality.

Effects of carcass weight increase on meat quality and sensory properties of pork loin

“…This suggests that the incidence of PSE occurring at over 5.0 % of DL [31] is not likely to be influenced by gender or CW. Moreover, effects of increasing SW on DL % are inconsistent among in many studies [4,11,28,30]. In the present study, insignificant differences for all WHC measurements might be due to no difference in pHu among CW groups.…”

Effects of the Plane of Nutrition on Physicochemical Characteristics and Sensory Quality Traits of the Muscle in Finishing Pigs

“…This is much greater than 21. 4 mm of BFT at the same live weight in the low-energy diet-fed high-lean pigs (Park et al ., 2009a), in which the retrospectively assessed optimum slaughter weight for superior carcass and meat quality is 128±5 kg on the criteria that the optimum BFT is 22±1 mm (Park, 2011; Park et al, 2013a; MAFRA, 2014) and that the BFT increases at a rate of 0.20 to 0.25 mm/kg live weight (Jeong et al ., 2010; Park and Lee, 2011; Park et al ., 2013b). If the same criteria are adopted for the present pigs endowed with a medium lean gain potential, the optimum slaughter weight is assessed to be 116±4 kg.…”

Assessment of growth performance and meat quality of finishing pigs raised on the low plane of nutrition

“…The cold carcasses were graded and fabricated according to the MAFRA [ 18 ] and MFAS [ 19 ] standards, respectively, after measurement or evaluation of carcass weight, backfat thickness, and others. The backfat thickness (BFT) at a desired live weight and the live weight at a desired backfat thickness were adjusted and predicted, respectively, using the equation suggested by NSIF [ 20 ] and the slope of BFT regressed on the live weight reported by Park and Lee [ 4 ], respectively.…”

“…The market weight or slaughter weight and the plane of nutrition are important factors in pig production influencing the profitability as well as meat quality [ 1 – 4 ]. The profitability of pig production increases with increasing slaughter weight because the production cost per unit weight of pork decreases with increasing size of the market pig [ 5 , 6 ].…”