Effect of castration time on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and beef tenderness

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports, Dec 2004

Crossbred Angus calves (n=120) were randomly assigned to early-castrated, early-castrated plus implant, and late-castrated treatment groups. After weaning, calves were placed on feed at the Western Kansas Agricultural Research Southeast Agricultural Research Center Station in Hays, Kansas, for finishing. On-feed weights and final weights were similar among treatments. During the first 132 days on feed, the steers castrated early and implanted had a lower average daily gain than early- and late-castration treatments. Early castrates tended (P=0.08) to have a lower feed-to-gain ratio for the first 132 days on feed. Hot carcass weight, internal fat, and marbling scores were not affected by treatment. Carcasses from steers castrated late had less backfat, larger ribeye areas, and lesser yield grades (greater cutability) than carcasses from steers castrated early, with or without an implant. Carcasses from steers castrated early and implanted had a greater percentage grading USDA choice (60%) than did carcasses from steers castrated early (45%) or late (41%). Warner-Bratzler shear force and sensory-panel traits were similar for all treatment groups.

A PDF file should load here. If you do not see its contents the file may be temporarily unavailable at the journal website or you do not have a PDF plug-in installed and enabled in your browser.

Alternatively, you can download the file locally and open with any standalone PDF reader:

https://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1662&context=kaesrr

Effect of castration time on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and beef tenderness

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports J.W. Homm J.R. Brethour Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/kaesrr Part of the Other Animal Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Homm, J.W.; Marston, T.T.; Brethour, J.R.; and Unruh, John A. (2004) "Effect of castration time on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and beef tenderness," Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station - See next page for additional authors This report is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. Copyright 2004 Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service. Contents of this publication may be freely reproduced for educational purposes. All other rights reserved. Brand names appearing in this publication are for product identification purposes only. No endorsement is intended, nor is criticism implied of similar products not mentioned. K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Effect of castration time on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and beef tenderness Abstract Crossbred Angus calves (n=120) were randomly assigned to early-castrated, early-castrated plus implant, and late-castrated treatment groups. After weaning, calves were placed on feed at the Western Kansas Agricultural Research Southeast Agricultural Research Center Station in Hays, Kansas, for finishing. Onfeed weights and final weights were similar among treatments. During the first 132 days on feed, the steers castrated early and implanted had a lower average daily gain than early- and late-castration treatments. Early castrates tended (P=0.08) to have a lower feed-to-gain ratio for the first 132 days on feed. Hot carcass weight, internal fat, and marbling scores were not affected by treatment. Carcasses from steers castrated late had less backfat, larger ribeye areas, and lesser yield grades (greater cutability) than carcasses from steers castrated early, with or without an implant. Carcasses from steers castrated early and implanted had a greater percentage grading USDA choice (60%) than did carcasses from steers castrated early (45%) or late (41%). Warner-Bratzler shear force and sensory-panel traits were similar for all treatment groups. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Authors J.W. Homm, T.T. Marston, J.R. Brethour, and John A. Unruh This research report is available in Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports: https://newprairiepress.org/kaesrr/vol0/iss1/259 EFFECT OF CASTRATION TIME ON FEEDLOT PERFORMANCE, CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS, AND BEEF TENDERNESS Summary Crossbred Angus calves (n=120) were randomly assigned to early-castrated, earlycastrated plus implant, and late-castrated treatment groups. After weaning, calves were placed on feed at the Western Kansas Agricultural Research Station in Hays, Kansas, for finishing. On-feed weights and final weights were similar among treatments. During the first 132 days on feed, the steers castrated early and implanted had a lower average daily gain than early- and latecastration treatments. Early castrates tended (P=0.08) to have a lower feed-to-gain ratio for the first 132 days on feed. Hot carcass weight, internal fat, and marbling scores were not affected by treatment. Carcasses from steers castrated late had less backfat, larger ribeye areas, and lesser yield grades (greater cutability) than carcasses from steers castrated early, with or without an implant. Carcasses from steers castrated early and implanted had a greater percentage grading USDA choice (60%) than did carcasses from steers castrated early (45%) or late (41%). Warner-Bratzler shear force and sensory-panel traits were similar for all treatment groups. Introduction Cow/calf producers have several options for selling their calves. Traditionally, calves have been sold at weaning, sold after a preconditioning period, or retained through the feedlot phase. The time of castration can affect selling weight. Previous research conducted at KSU has shown that early castration plus an implant can increase weaning weights of early castrates to the same weight as late castrates. Little is known, however, about the impact of castration strategy on subsequent feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and beef tenderness. Therefore, our objective was to determine the effect of castration time on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and beef tenderness attributes. Experimental Procedures One hundred and twenty male beef calves were randomly assigned to one of three treatments: early castration, early castration plus an implant, and late castration. Early-castrated calves were castrated at approximately 75 days of age (summer grass turnout time) and, within this group, (...truncated)


This is a preview of a remote PDF: https://newprairiepress.org/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1662&context=kaesrr

J.W. Homm, T.T. Marston, J.R. Brethour, John A. Unruh. Effect of castration time on feedlot performance, carcass characteristics, and beef tenderness, Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports, 2004, pp. 107-110, Issue 1,