Effect of Sex Condition on Growth and Carcass Traits of Male Hereford and Angus Cattle

Abstract

Reviews of the literature by Turton (1962), Cahill (1964), Brannang (1969) and Hedrick (1968) have indicated that bulls grow faster than steers and do not deposit as much fat. Meat from bulls has generally been reported to be less palatable than that from steers, although reports of Brown, Barteer and Lewis (1962), Field, Nelms and Schoonover (1966) and Hedrick, Thompson and Krause (1969) indicate that meat from young bulls was comparable in palatability to that from steers or heifers of similar ages. Baiburtcjan (1961) described a method of partial castration that resulted in faster growth than either intact males or castrates and leaner carcasses than castrates. Research with lambs (Hudson et al., 1968; Glimp, 1971) has shown that a short scrotum sex condition resulted in growth rates and carcass composition similar to intact males but with carcass quality similar to castrates. This experiment was designed to investigate the effects of sex condition of male calves, and to evaluate the effects of age for the castration and the short scrotum methods of sex alteration on rate and composition of growth and meat quality. Copyright © 1971. American Society of Animal Science. Copyright 1971 by American Society of Animal Science.