Effect of sex and terminal sire genotype on performance, carcass characteristics, and meat quality of pigs slaughtered at 117 kg body weight

The effects of gender (barrows; gilts) and terminal sire genotype (DD, Danish Duroc; PxLW, Pietrain×Large White) on performance and carcass and meat quality of pigs sacrificed at a fixed weight of 117 kg were studied. Barrows ate more feed, grew faster, and had poorer feed conversion and less yield of trimmed lean cuts than gilts. Castrates were fatter and had more intramuscular fat and more intense colour of the meat than females. Crossbreds from DD boars grew faster and had better feed conversion than crossbred from P×LW boars. Also, DD sired-pigs had smaller dressing percentages but more trimmed lean cuts proportion than P×LW sired-pigs. Meat from DD pigs was more tender, had more intramuscular fat, and presented lower a* value than meat from P×LW pigs. We conclude that DD boars are a good alternative to P×LW boars for production of heavy pigs destined for the dry-cured industry.