Preliminary Study on the Carcass Traits and Numerical Variations of Vertebrae and Ribs of Philippine Native Pig (Sus scrofa L.) Strains

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the number of vertebrae and pairs of ribs per region namely cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and caudal vertebrae of three different strains of native pigs in the Cordilleras namely solid black, black with white legs and belly, and black with six white points. It included determining their carcass traits such as carcass weight, carcass length, and back fat thickness. A total of six pigs were used having two replicates in each strain. The study was conducted from April 4 to May 6, 2016 at The Animal Genetic Resources (TANGERE) Project of the Benguet State University in Bektey, La Trinidad, Benguet. Results showed a similar number of seven in the cervical vertebrae of all strains of native pigs. Variations were seen in the succeeding vertebral region with 14 to 15 thoracic, 5 to 6 lumbar, 4 to 5 sacral and 23 to 26 caudal vertebrae. The total number of vertebrae ranged from 53-57 and 14-15 pairs of ribs. In terms of carcass characteristics, black pigs with white legs and belly had the highest mean carcass weight of 52.2±1.5, carcass length of 73±5.0 and backfat thickness 4.17±0.17 with a mean slaughter weight of 84.0. This was followed by solid black pigs with a carcass weight of 23±1.0 and carcass length of 63±2.0 with a mean slaughter weight of 39±1.0 but with the lowest mean backfat thickness 2.08±0.25. The black pigs with white legs had the lowest mean slaughter weight of 35.5±12.5, lowest carcass weight of 20±7.0, and carcass length of 55±8.0. Pigs with heavier slaughter weight have heavier carcass weight and longer carcass. The anatomical data generated from this study can be used in the phenotypic characterization of local native pigs. However, with a limited number of samples, correlation and linear regression analysis cannot be performed to determine the relationship between the anatomical data and the carcass traits. Therefore, further study involving more pig samples is recommended. The minimum and maximum number of vertebrae must be represented to perform other statistical analysis.