PRODUCTIVITY AND EXTERNAL FEATURES OF YOUNG PIGS OF LARGE WHITE BREED OF DIFFERENT SELECTION

Abstract

The article presents the results of the research on constitutional peculiarities of young
pigs of Large White breed (LW), using boars of Estonian selection (ELW) while improving
the productive qualities of pigs of local reproduction in conditions of the Saratov Region. Animals which were obtained from mating Large White sows with boars of Estonian selection
differed in a longer body by 1.9-4.08%, chest girth by 1.54-3.85%, chest depth by 2.23-
4.86%, width of chest by 1.32-3.59%, height at the withers by 0.69-3.13% and at the age of 6
months they had a significant advantage in the index of length by 1.79%, legs length by 0.9%,
but were less compact by 0.5%. A significant increase in grow power was found in piglets
obtained from mating Large White sows with boars of Estonian selection by 2.37% in comparison with the control. The pigs of LW x ELW combination had higher rates during fattening till 100 kg of live weight. They surpassed the analogs of the 1st group in earliness by
1.08%. The morphological composition of carcasses is one of the main characteristics of the market value of pork. Based on the research, it was found that the meat yield in half-carcasses
of pigs obtained from the combinations of LW x ELW was 2.4% higher. The lard yield was
2.3% lower in comparison with the offspring of the LW x LW combination. The highest rate
of fleshing index and leanness was observed in piglets which were obtained from the combination LW x ELW: 5.25 and 2.83 versus 4.99 and 3.01 in analogs of the first group.