A comparative study was performed between the cage swine raising and ground swine raising in terms of meat productivity by using 24 hogs from 4 litters of LH breed through two seasonal feeding tests, in summer and in winter.
The test period covered the summer season of July through October and the winter season of December through April. The fattening period was designated for the time of growth from 34kg up to 90kg of body weights. The feedstuff provided was the new feed for meat productive performance test of Japan with resticted feeding. The hog pens in the winter season was heated with warm water piping on the floor surface for the cage swine raising, while no warming except laying of straw was provided for the ground swine raising group.
The results were as described hereunder.
1. No significant difference was found out between the cage raising and the ground raising groups in terms of weight gain and feed utility. The difference between the summer season and the winter season in terms of these factors was also no significant. However, the heating in winter season in the cage raising group resulted in less feed consumption by about 5% than in the ground raising group.
2. No significant difference was seen between the cage raising group and the ground raising group in terms of the findings with carcasses, although the cage raising group tended to show larger area of loin eye and thinner back fat than the ground raising group in the summer and winter seasons.
3. The overall judgement of the results according to the standerds for evaluation of meat productive performance test of swine revealed that the cage raising group tended to attain better marks in both the summer and the winter seasons.
4. The cage raising in winter season costed approx. \1, 000 for cage heating per head (40 litters of kerosine), but the heating cost could be offset as the cage raising group in the present test in terms of grading carcasses and feed consumption,
5. As a result, it can not be claimed that the cage swine raising is inferior to the ground swine raising in terms of meat productivity.

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In order to prepare the standards for providing feedstuff to cage swine raising, a fattening test was carried out with swine to be fattened in winter season by using the need for meat productive performance test (with a DCP of 12.9 and a TDN of 70.1), dividing 48 hogs of LH breed into 4 groups by the provided amounts of feedstuff from the boby weight of 30kg up to 90kg. The 4 groups comprisd those with increased feeding in the earlier half of fattening stage, those with standard amount of feeding, those with standard amount of feeding, those with relatively less feeding, and those with less feeding. The results can be summarized as described hereunder.
1. The group with standard amount of feeding (the feeding standard being based on the TDN supply) resulted in a DG of 680.5±66.2g, a FCR of 3.49, a loin eye area of 18.8cm², and a thickness of back fat (average in 3 portions) of 2.65cm.
2. Increased feeding by 100g over the standard amount at the earlier half of the fattening stage did not prove effective for attaining better results in growth, feed utility, and carcasses.
3. Less feeding by 200-600g than the standard amount at the latter half of the fattening stage (i. e. 2.4kg/60kg bd.wt.-2.7kg/90kg bd.wt.) resulted in inferior DG, but unchanged FCR, with improvements in the area of loin eye, thickness of back fat, and grading of carcasses.
4. Rigid restriction in feeding initiated from the earlier half of the fattening stage resulted in improved carcasses, but extremely poor DG, which is therefore unadvisable.
5. The optimal amount of supply of feed stuff was deemed to be 1.7kg for the period of a body weight of 30-40kg, 2.0kg for the period of a body weight of 40-50kg, and 2.4kg for the period a body weight of 50-60kg, with restriction advisable even thereafter, but not to the extent as applied to the swine to be fattened in summer season.

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In order to prepare the standards for providing feedstuff to cage swine fattening, a fattening test was carried out with 24 hogs of LH breed from the body weight of 30kg up to 90kg by using the proposed feeding amount which had less TDN at the latter half of fattening stage than the feeding standards (1.7kg/30kg BW. -2.7kg/90kg BW.) and with a control of the amount proposed by the Japanese Standards for Swine Feeding. The feedstuff used for the test was the new feed for meat productive performance test in Japan (with a DCP of 12.9 and a TDN of 70.1).
The results were as summarized hereunder.
1. No difference was seen between the tested and the control groups in terms of the days needed for fattening from a body weight of 30kg up to 90kg and of the average daily gain.
2. It was noted that further studies would be needed on the amount of feeding over a body weight of 90kg as DG sharply dropped after reaching a body weight of 80kg when the proposed feeding amount was appiled.
3. No difference was seen between the tested and the control groups in terms of feed intake and feed conversion rate.
4. The results of test on the carcasses revealed that the carcasses were obviously improved in the groups of proposed feeding in terms of the area of loin eye, thikness of back fat, and grading of carcasses.
5. No adverse effect was seen upon the quality of meat even with restriction of feed consumption.
6. The optimal feeding ration in the cage swine raising assessed from the results of the present test would be approx. 1.7kg for those with a body weight of 30-40kg (80-100 days of age), approx. 2.0kg for those with a body weight of 40-50kg (100-120 days of age), approx. 2.4kg for those with a body weight of 50-65kg (120-140 days of age), approx. 2.2kg for those with a body weight of 65-80kg (140-160 days of age), and approx. 2.7kg for those with a body weight of 80-90kg (160-180 days of age).

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Correlation between the muscle fiber diameter (MFD) of Longissimus dorsi muscles and some characteristics of pork was histologically studied with 34 hogs of Kagoshima Berkshire (KB) and Landrace (L) breeds which were kept at Kagoshima Prefectural Animal Industry Experiment Station under the same conditions. The hogs were fed with some restrictions or ad libitum by groups and a few each of them were slaughtered when their body weights reached 90, 100, and 110kg.
Tissue sections were prepared by the normal paraffin embedding method. The MFDs were determined microscopically.
The results of the F-test with the MFD by breeds, sexes, body weights at slaughtering and feeding methods revealed that the mean MFDs of KB and L were respectively 46.50μ and 56.17μ and that the MFD of LB was smaller than that of L with statistical significance at 1% level. No significant difference was noted between the two groups by sexes, carcass weights, or feeding methods. However, KB showed differences close to that with significance between the 90kg and 100kg slaughter groups and between the 100kg and 110kg slaughter groups, and a trend was noted that the larger the body weights at slaughter the larger was the MFD.
Studies on the relationship between MFD and meat quality parameters, especially between MFD and water-holding capacity or inter-muscular fat content, revealed that a correlation existed with a 5% level of significance, which indicated the smaller the MFD the better was the water-holding capacity in the gilts of KB group which were fed ad libitum. A relationship close to significant correlation could be noted in the groups of castrated boars. Another correlation was noted in the groups of L gilts that the smaller the MFD the higher was the intermuscular fat content with significance of 5% level.

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