Growth curves fitting for body weight and backfat thickness of swine by sex

The purpose of this study was to establish proper shipping weight and backfat thickness by applying the growth model to backfat thickness, measured by means of not only body weight, but also ultrasonography, and predicting the changes by age. Three breeds, i.e. Duroc, Landrace, and Yorkshie, were analyzed, and the Gompertz, logistic, and Von Bertalanffy model were used for inference with the parameter of the growth model being sex. As a result, both body weight and backfat thickness showed different growth curve parameters and characteristics at inflection points depending on model selection and sex. As for backfat thickness, in estimating the inflection point, unlike the case of body weight, the inflection ages of the boars of the Duroc breed was earlier than that of sows, whereas the inflection ages of the sows of the Landrace and Yorkshire breeds was earlier than that of boars. More than anything else, in the analysis of the changes in backfat thickness according to body weight, as the body weight reached 145 kg, the backfat thickness showed much variation as great as 1.7-3.2 cm in each breed and sex. In addition, unlike the other breeds, the boars of the Landrace breed showed an exponential type of relationship between body weight and backfat thickness. As they grow to become 100 kg or heavier, abrupt change in back-fat thickness was confirmed. If the growth of body weight and backfat thickness is understood and the genetic relationship is taken advantage of like this, it would be possible to set desired body weight and backfat thickness, and thus help effectively set the shipping time. If not only the phenotype, but also genetic parameters about growth characteristics are estimated and analyzed additionally, more effective data can be generated.