ORIGINAL PAPER
Assessment of the growth of crossbred Black-and-White and beef breed heifers until the age of 450 days
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Department of Cattle Breeding,
Olsztyn University of Agriculture and Technology,
Oczapowskiego 5, 10-718 Olsztyn, Poland
Publication date: 1998-03-25
J. Anim. Feed Sci. 1998;7(2):151-159
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ABSTRACT
Body weight and conformation were estimated as well as daily gains and feed utilization by
crossbred heifers obtained by crossing Black-and-White (BW) cows with bulls of beef-type breeds:
Belgian Blue (BB), Charolaise (Ch) and Limousine (Lim). The experiments were carried out on 43
heifers kept tied in a barn with bedding, applying controlled, intensive group feeding in the period
from day 180 to day 450 of life. At the age of 180 days BW x Ch heifers were the heaviest and were
significantly different (P≤0.01) from the heifers of other groups. The higher daily weight gains and
better feed utilization observed for BW x Lim and BW x BB heifers were comparable to those by
Charolaise sires, but the differences between groups were not significant. In respect to the body
features important in meat production, no group of heifers dominated significantly over the others.
BW x Ch heifers had a significantly (P≤0.05) higher body mass index than BW x BB heifers, and
they had a lower index of leg height than BW x Lim heifers. BW x BB heifers were characterized by
the most favourable bone index, significantly (P≤0.01) lower in comparison with BW x Ch heifers.