2020 Volume 91 Issue 1 Pages 9-16
Genetic parameters for 13 body measurement traits (body length, body height, front width, chest width, hind width, chest depth, chest girth, front and rear cannon circumferences, front and rear pastern postures, body mass index, and body density) and six production traits (age at start and end of test, average daily gain (DG), backfat thickness (BF), loin muscle area (LMA), and intramuscular fat content (IMF)) were estimated in Duroc pigs. Data on 2,835 individual pigs were collected from 2009 through 2017. Heritability estimates for body measurement traits ranged from moderate to high. The largest absolute values of estimated genetic correlations between each production traits (DG, BF, LMA, and IMF) and body measurement traits were chest girth (0.42), chest girth (0.68), front pastern postures (－0.28), and chest width (0.38), respectively. Our results suggest that these body measurement traits can be used as indicator traits for improving production traits. We also recommend taking leg conformation traits into consideration due to the estimated negative genetic correlations between cannon circumference and BF, front pastern posture and LMA, and the positive genetic correlation between front pastern posture and DG.
