The properties of seven nonlinear models were discussed concerning its applications in the fitting of growth curves in animal production. The models used: Brody, Richards, Von Bertalanffy and two alternatives of Gompertz and Logistic models, were fitted by Gauss Newton method to weight-age data from eight animal species: freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergi, pepper frog, rabbit, poultry, sheep, goat, swine and cattle. Considering results of the fitted models such as convergence or not, coefficient of determination and biological interpretation of parameters, […]

Weights at birth, at weaning and monthly from 8 to 19 months of age of the 11 genotype identified by combination of polymorphic RFLP’s of the genes kappa-casein-HinfI (CSN3): AA and AB, growth hormone-AluI (GH): LL and LV, and b-lactoglobulin-HaeIII (LGB): AA, AB and BB (G1=AALLAA, G2=AALLAB, G3=AALLBB, G4=AALVAB, G5=AALVBB, G6=ABLLAA, G7=ABLLAB, G8=ABLLBB, G9=ABLVAA, G10=ABLVAB e G11=ABLVBB) were used. Data were obtained from three genetic groups: ½Canchim-Nelore (CN), ½Angus-Nelore (AN) and ½Simmental-Nelore (SN), born in 1998 and 1999 in Southeast […]

Fifteen years of data from a flock of Bergamasca sheep weighed every two weeks was analyzed using non-linear methods to determine parameters of three growth curves (Brody , Richards and Logistic). The curve parameters were analyzed using Statistical Analysis System (SAS) procedures GLM and CORR to determine factors which influenced them and correlations between the parameters and weights at determined ages. Fixed effects in the model included lambing number, sex of lamb, type of birth and month and age of […]

Methods of standardization of body weight for 205, 365 and 550 days of age were compared. It was used information of animals of the Nellore breed, raised in the Northeast Brazil, and controlled by the Brazilian Zebu Breeders Association (ABCZ). The following methods were compared: MET1 – used by ABCZ; MET2 – individual curves of linear regression for each animal; MET3 – individual curves of quadratic regression; MET4 – individual Brody curve; MET5 – used by the Program of Genetic […]

Forty-eight female pigs were used to determine tissue growth curves after slaughter of the animals at 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110 and 120 kg and dissection of the carcasses. The lean cuts in carcass were made according to that used by Brazilian pork slaughters. In each cut it were separated muscle, fat, bone and skin amounts. The expanded allometric function was used to estimate and to fit the growth curves. The muscle amounts in carcass increased to 41.9% […]