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Fattening of heifers in Sumava mountains
VALTER, Jiří
The main goal of this master?s thesis is to assess heifer fattening conducted in two grazing cycles in the mountain region of Southern Bohemia. The observation was carried out in two cycles in the years 2008/2009 and 2010/2011. A total of 99 heifers was observed, all of them crossbreeds of Aberdeen Angus or Simmental cattle. In the first grazing cycle, the heifers were raised on pasture together with the mothers and stabled for the winter season. The heifers were slaughtered after the end of the second grazing cycle in the next year. Live weight of the heifers was recorded at the end of the first grazing cycle, at the end of the winter season and again at the end of the second grazing cycle. The weight of the dressed carcass and results of the SEUROP carcass classification were further recorded. The average daily gain was calculated for each period from the live weight. The data set was sorted by the month of birth and by the SEUROP class score. Data analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel. In order to evaluate the results, basic statistical parameters were calculated for each of the selected variables and the cogency of the differences between the groups was tested with the two-tailed t-test at the corresponding level of significance. The average weight of the heifers at the end of the first grazing cycle was 281,2 kg, average weight at the end of the winter season was 366,1 kg and the average weight at the end of the second grazing cycle was 511,6. The average age of the heifers at the end of the first grazing cycle was 221,5 days and they were slaughtered at the average age of 568,9 days. The average daily gain was 1,16 kg during the first grazing cycle, 0,53 kg during the winter season and 0,81 kg during the second grazing cycle. The lifetime average daily gain was 0.85 kg. Net gain averaged 0,45 kg per heifer. The average weight of the dressed carcass was 253,8 kg. 2,1 % of the heifers gained SEUROP class ?U?; 54,5 % class ?R? and 43,4 % class ?O?. The heifers showed considerable variability, especially in the weight at the end of the second grazing cycle (sx = 42,4 kg). Data analysis revealed correlations of r2=0,62 between weaning weight and slaughter weight and r2=0,69 between weaning weight and JUT weight.
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Fattening heifers on pasture
VALTER, Jiří
The main goal of this bachelor{\crq}s theses is to assess heifer fattening conducted in two grazing cycles in the mountain region of Southern Bohemia. The observation was carried out in the years 2008 and 2009. A total of 51 heifers was observed, all of them crossbreeds of Aberdeen Angus or Simmental cattle. In the first grazing cycle, the heifers were raised together with the mothers on a pasture and stabled for the winter season. The heifers were slaughtered after the end of the second grazing cycle, which followed the next year. Light weight of the heifers was recorded at the end of the first grazing cycle, at the end of the winter season and again at the end of the second grazing cycle. The weight of the dressed carcass and the SEUROP classification was further recorded. The average daily gain was calculated for each period from the live weight. The data set was sorted by the month of birth of the heifer and by the SEUROP classification. Statistical data analyses were carried out using the Excel software. In order to evaluate the results, basic statistical parameters were calculated for each of the selected variables and the cogency of the differences between the groups was tested with the two-tailed t-test at the corresponding level of significance. The average weight of the heifers at the end of the first grazing cycle was 266.0 kg, average weight at the end of the winter season was 349.8 kg and the average weight at the end of the second grazing cycle was 512.3 kg. The average age of the heifer at the end of the first grazing cycle was 216 days and they were slaughtered at the average age of 574 days. The average daily gain during the first grazing cycle was 1.14 kg, during the winter season 0.57 kg and during the second grazing cycle 0.78 kg. The lifetime average daily gain was 0.85 kg. The average weight of the dressed carcass was 247.1 kg. 60.8 % of the heifers gained the SEUROP class ``O`` and 39.2 % the class ``R`` or ``U``. The heifers showed considerable variability, especially in the weight at the end of the second grazing cycle (sx = 43.9 kg). Heifers gained the SEUROP class ``R`` or ``U`` showed higher weight at the end of both the first and second grazing cycle, higher weight of the dressed carcass and higher average daily gain during the winter season and during the second grazing cycle, compared with the heifers gained the SEUROP class ``O``.
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