Bone weight distribution in steer carcasses of different breeds and crosses, and the prediction of carcass bone content from the bone content of joints

Abstract

Summary: Dissection data for 753 steer carcasses from 17 breed-type × feeding system groups were used to examine the distribution of bone weight between 11 standardized commercial joints, and the prediction of bone content in side (half carcass) from the bone content of individual joints. Breed types included Ayrshire, Friesian, Friesian × Ayrshire and crosses out of Friesians by Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Limousin, Simmental and South Devon sires. Group means for bone weight in the side ranged from 14·9 to 21·0 kg with a pooled within-group S.D. of 1·97 kg.The increase in bone weight in each joint relative to that in the side was examined using the allometric equation. Pooled within-group growth coefficients (b values) were lowest for the leg (hind shin) and shin (fore shin) joints (b = 0·86 ± 0·02 and 0·94 ± 0·02 respectively) and highest for the sirloin (b = 1·10 ± 0·05).At equal total bone weight, there were significant (P < 0·001) but relatively small differences between groups in the weight of bone in each of the joints tested.Bone weights in the top piece, shin and coast joints gave the most precise prediction of bone weight in the side: the pooled within group residual standard deviations were 0·62, 0·67 and 0·71 kg respectively. The limited variation between groups in bone weight distribution was reflected in the robustness of common prediction equations across groups.