| dc.description.abstract |
Large White, Landrace, and Hybrid breeding stock (and the crosses between them) account for most pigs produced in Australia. Performance information for these 3 breeds (obtained from the NSW Boar Performance Test Station) was analysed for a 5-year period (March 1986-June 1991). At the commencement of the comparison, Landrace boars were significantly slower growing than Hybrid boars, significantly fatter than Large White boars, and had a significantly poorer feed conversion ratio than both breeds. There were no differences by the end of the comparison. During the 5-year period, Landrace boars showed a significant improvement in the Test Index relative to the other 2 breeds, being equal to them in overall genetic merit at the end of the comparison. For all 3 breeds, the Test Index improved substantially over this period; however, this observation was made in the absence of control populations. Despite an increase in growth rate during the assessment period (40-90 kg liveweight), there was no decrease in age at 40 kg. |
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