Efiffiifiiki-ENT STATKLGR LEBQRAQY ,
BUILDTNG.

A35—828—6000-L1 8O

TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

A. B. CONNER, DIRECTOR
conmcn STATION. BRAZOS COUNTY, TEXAS

BULLETIN NO. 385 ’ SEPTEMBER, 1928

DIVISION OF RANGE ANIMAL-HUSBANDRY

CHANGES IN BODY MEASUREMENTS OF
STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING

 

AGRICULTURAL AND MECHANICAL COLLEGE OF TEXAS
T. O. WALTON, President

STATION STAFFT

ADMINISTRATION:
B. CONNER, M. S., Director
. E. KARPER, M. S., Vice-Director
. M. SGHAEDEL, Secretary
. P. HOLLEMAN, JR., Chief Clerk
. K. FRANcKLow, Assistant Chief Clerk
CHESTER HIGGS, Executive Assistant
C. B.‘ NEBLETTE, Technical Assistant
CHEMISTRY:
G. S. FRAPS, Ph. D., Chief; State Chemist
S E. AsEURY, M. S., Assistant Chemist
E. C. CARLYLE, B. S., Chemist
WALno H. WALKER, Assistant Chemist
VELMA GRAHAM, Assistant Chemist
O. S. Ossoon, M. S., Assistant Chemist
T. L. OGIER, B. S_., Assistant Chemist
J . G. EvANs, Assistant Chemist
ATHAN J. STERGES, B. S., Assistant Chemist
G. S. CRENsRAw, A. B., Assistant Chemist
_ JEANNE M. FUEGAS, Assistant Chemist
HANs PLANENiUs, M. Sc., Assistant Chemist

uguw>

I HORTICULTURE:

HAMILTON P. TRAUE, Ph. D., Chief
H. NEss, M. S., Berry Breeder
RANGE ANIMAL HUSBANDRY:
J. M. JoN_Es,_A. M., Chief; Sheep and Goat
Investigations
J. L. LUsR, Ph. D., Animal Husbandman;
Breeding Investigations
STANLEY P. Avis, Wool Grader
ENTOMOLOGY:
F. L. TRoMAs, Ph. D., Chief; State
Entomologist
ll. J. REINRARD, B. S., Entomolo ist
R. K. FLETCHER, M. A., Entomo ogist
W. L. OWEN, JR., M. S., Entomologist
FRANK M. HULL, M. S., Entomologist
J. C. GAiNEs, JR., M. S., Entomologist
C. J. Tom), B. S., Entomologist
F. F. BIBBY, B. S., Entomologist
S. E. McGREcoR, JR., Acting Chief Foulbrood
Inspector
Orro MAcKENsEN, Foulbrood Inspector
AGRONOMY:
E. B. REYNoLns, M. S., Chief
R. E. KARPER, M. S., Agronomist; Grain Sor-
(ghum Research
P. . IVIANGELSDORF, Sc. D., Agronomist;
in charge of Corn and Small Grain Investi-
ations
D. . KILLOUGH, M. S., Agronomist; Cotton
Breeding
H. E. REA, B. S., Agronomist; Cotton Root Rot
Investigations
PUBLICATIONS:
A. D. JAcKsoN, Chief

VETERINARY SCIENCE:

*M. FRANcIs, D. V. M., Chief

H. SCHMIDTJ). V. M., Veterinarian

F. E .CARRoLL, D. V. M., Veterinarian
PLANT PATHOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY:

J. J. TAUBENHAUS. Ph. D., Chief

W. N. EzEKIEL, Ph. D., Plant Pathologist and

Laboratory Technician

W. J. BACH, M. S., Plant Pathologist

J. PAUL LUsK, S. M., Plant Pathologist

B. F. DANA, M. S., Plant Pathologist
FARM AND RANCH ECONOMICS:

L. P. GABBARD, M. S., Chief

W. E. PAULsoN, Ph. D., Marketing Research

Specialist
C. A. BoNNEN, M. S., Farm Management
Research Specialist
V. L. CORY, M. S., Grazing Research Botanist
J. F. CRIswELL, B. S., Assistant; Farm Records
and Accounts
**J. N. TATE, B. S., Assistant; Ranch Records
and Accounts
RURAL HOME RESEARCH:
J ESSIE WI-IITACBE, Ph. D., Chief
MAmE CIRLMES, M. S., Textile and Clothing
Specialist

EuuA E. SUMNER, M. S., Nutrition Specialist
SOIL SURVEY:

**W. T. CARTER, B. S., Chie

E. H. TEMPLIN, B. S., Soi Surveyor

T. C. REITcn, B. S., Soil Surveyor

L. G. RAcsnALE, B. S., Soil Surveyor
BOTANY:

H. NEss, M. S., Chief

SIMON E. WOLFF, M. S., Botanist
SWINE HUSBANDRY:

FRED HALE, M. S., Chief
DAIRY HUSBANDRY:

O C. COPELAND, B. S., Dairy Husbandman
POULTRY HUSBANDRY:

R. M. SRERwoon, M. S., Chief
***AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING:
MAIN STATION FARM:

G. T. McNEss, Superintendent
APICULTURE gan Antonio):

H. B. PARKs, . S., Chief

. H. ALEx, B. S., Queen Breeder
FEED CONTROL SERVICE:

F. D. FULLER, M. S., Chief

S. D. PEARcE, Secretary

J. H. RocERs, Feed Inspector

W. H. Woon, Feed Inspector

K. L. KIRKLAND, B. S., Feed Inspector

W. D. NORTHCUTI‘, JR. B. S., Feed Inspector

SIDNEY D. REYNoLns, JR, Feed Inspector

P. A. MooRE, Feed Inspector

SUBSTATIONS

N

O

. l, Beeville, Bee County:
. A. HALL, B. S., Superintendent
. 2. Troup, Smith County:
. R. JonNsoN, B. S., Act. Superintendent
3, Angleton, Brazoria County:
.H. STANSEL, M. S., Superintendent
. 4, Beaumont, Jeflerson County:
. H. WYcRE, B. S., Superintendent
. 5, Temple, Bell County:
ENRY DUNLAVY, M. S., Superintendent
F. DANA, M. S., Plant Pathologist
H. E. REA, B. S., Agronomist; Cotton Root R0
Investigations
SIMON E. WOLFE, M. S., Botanist; Cotton Root
Rot Investigations
No. 6, Denton, Denton County:
P. B. DUNKLE, B. S., Superintendent
No. 7, Spur, Dickens County:
R. E. DIcKsoN, B. S., Superintendent
No. 8, Lubbock, Lubbock County:
D. L. JoNEs, Superintendent
FRANK GAINEs, Irrigationist and Forest
Nurseryman
No. 9, Balmorhea, Reeves County:
J. J. BAYLEs, B. S., Superintendent

Z Z
QLUQw

z
20°21

N

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No. I0, Feeding and Breeding Station, near
College Station, Brazos County:

R. M. IiERwoon, M. S., Animal Husband-

man in Charge of Farm

L. J . McCALL, Farm Superintendent
No. ll, Nacogdoches, Nacogdoches County:

H. F. MoRRIs, M. S., Superintendent
**No. 12, Chillicothe, Hardeman County:

J . R. UINBY, B. S., Superintendent _
**J. C. TEPHENS, M. A., Junior Agronomist
No. l4, Sonora, Sutton-Edwards Counties:

W. H. DAIERON, B. S., Superintendent

E. A. TUNNICLIFF, D. V. M., M. S.,

Veterinarian _ _

V. L. CoRY, M. S., Grazing Research Botanist

"O. G. BABCOCK, B. S., Collaborating
Entomologist

O. L. CARPENTER, Shepherd
No. l5, Weslaco, Hidalgo County:

W. H. FRIEND, B. S., Superintendent

SHERMAN W. CLARK, B. S. Entomologist

W. J . BAcri. M. S., Plant Pathologist
No. 16, Iowa Park, Wichita County:

E. J. WiLsoN, B. S., Superintendent _

J . PAUL LUsK, S. M., Plant Pathologist

Teachers in the School of Agriculture Carrying Cooperative Projects on the Station:

. W. BILSING, Ph. D., Professor of Entomology

<mQ

S
. P. Sun-n, M.

~>wmp

{As of September 1, 1928.

. W. ADRIANcE, M. S., Associate Professor of Horticulture
P

. . LEE, Ph. D., Professor of Marketing and Finance
COATES, A. E., Professor of Agricultural Engineering
S., Associate Professor of Agricultural Engineering
. H. WILLIAMS. Ph. D., Professor of Animal Husbandry
. K. MAcKEY, M. S., Associate Professor of Animal Husbandry
. S. IVIOGFORD, M. S., Associate Professor of Agronomy

‘Dean, School of Veterinary Medicine.

"In cooperation with U. S. Department of Agriculture.
"flu cooperation with the School of Agriculture.

S YN OPSI S

This Bulletin reports a study 0n the use 0f body measurements to describe

_ in definite terms the fatness of steers and the changes which occur in the 31

L show those changes.

body shape of steers as they fatten. ; It is a contribution to the general
problem of describing farm animals in more accurate objective terms, so
that differences between them, and the significance of those differences to
the breeder, feeder, and livestock judge may be studied more impartially
and with greater accuracy. The steers used in these experiments were
being fattened as a part of a general study of the place which Brahman
blood might profitably have in practical beef production in Texas. This
Bulletin is a part of that study.

Measurements were made on nearly all the steers fattened during four
seasons at Substation No. 7 near Spur.“ Measurements were made on theg‘
thin steers just before fattening began and measurements were made again
on the same steers when they were fat. In all, 185 steers divided among 
nineteen lots were studiedlf This Bulletin presents a study of those data
made with the sole object of learning what changes in body shape or con-
formation occurred during fattening, so far as body measurements could

,1 The Bulletin will be of interest chiefly to research

zworkers and teachers of animal husbandry and animal nutrition.

It was found that during fattening the steers increased most of all in
body widths, next in'body circumferences, next in widths of the pelvis
region, next in body depth, next in body length, next in height of the top-
line from the ground, and least of all in head measurements. While the
steers became broader and slightly taller and somewhat lower-set and their
bones grew slightly during the fattening process, yet the fat steers were
shorter and smaller-boned as well as broader and distinctly lower-set than
thin steers of the same weight.

Unavoidable errors in taking body measurements limit the usefulness of
those measurements in describing animal form, size, and fatness. The
source and usual size of those errors are considered.

Age plays a very important role in determining how a steer’s shape shall
change during fattening. Relative to weight, nearly all changes were
more extreme with older steers than with young ones. This was to be
expected as a logical result of the fact that the gains made by the older
steers consist much more largely of fat than do the gains made by younger
steers. The younger steers made a very considerable increase in the
absolute size of their skeletal and muscular tissues during the fattening
period.

Breed differences in the way steers change their shape during fattening
were clearly evidenced in these experiments in only two measurements,
paunch girth and flank girth. Even in those measurements there was so
much overlapping of the two groups that statistical methods were necessary
to demonstrate the differences, and a determination of their exact modes of
inheritance, if possible at all, would require an impracticably large number
of individuals.

CONTENTS

PAGE
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5

Previous Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 5

Description of the Steers Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. (S

li)esc.ription of hifllfilllTlllflltiS l/lSCtl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 12

Methods of Cialculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 18
Itesults:
(‘hest Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 21

Loin Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 23

Heart Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 2t

Flank Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

lPaunch Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I . . . . . . .y . . . . . . . . . 2b

Pelvis Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Width at Hooks . . . . . . . . . . . .- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Depth of Chest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  29

Length of Pelvis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Length of Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 31

Cannon Circumference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Width at Pin Bones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..; . . . . . . . . .. 33

Muzzle Circumference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 34

Height over Withers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

length of Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Height over Hips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3'7

Width at Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. Z19

Discussion oi Measurcemnts Relative to Weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4U

Ratios of Cne Measurement to Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 44

Chest Width to Heart Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 44

Chest Width to Chest Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45

(‘hest Width to Height at Withers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 45

Loin Width to Heart Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 46

Loin Width to (‘hest Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 46

Loin Width to Height at Withers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 47

Heart Girth" to Chest Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 48

‘Heart Girth to Height at Withers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 48

Correlation Between Ratios and Estimated Fatness . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 49

General Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Literature Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . 5'7

BULLETIN NO.  SEPTEMBER. 1928

CHANGES IN BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING
INTENSIVE FATTENING

JAY L. LUSH*

When thin but healty steers are confined to small lots and are fed
liberally of a good ration. they gain rapidly in weight. Thisincrease in
Weight consists largely of fat and lean flesh but also usually includes a
small amount of increase in weight of bones, hide, hair, and vital organs,
and ifrequently also a very considerable increase in the weight of the
contents ol’ the digestive tract and of the urinary bladder. The flesh,
which is a large part of such feed-lot gains, is not deposited at a uniform
rate in all parts of the body. As a consequence, steers not only gain in
weight during fattening but they also change in conformation, or body
shape. The purpose of this Bulletin is to show, so far as body measure-
ments on. nearly two hundred steers reveal them, the changes which
take place in conformation during intensive fattening.

Most of the data were taken in a study of the differences in conforma-
tion of cattle carrying Brahman blood, and cattle not carrying Brahman
blood. However, a comparison of the measurements of the same indi-
viduals WlIOH thin and when fat is equally well suited to a study of what
changes in body conformation take place during the process of fattening.
.-*\’stuvd_v of the data_ with that one object in mind forms the basis of this

bullet in.
PREVIOUS WORK

Many studies of body measurements of cattle have been published,
especially by (lerman workers. However, in those studies with few
exceptions. the measurements have been regarded either merely as an
objective means of describing the race or breed of cattle studied, 0r the
measurement has been studied with reference to the changes which
normally take place during growth from birth to maturity.

“Naturally the studies of changes in conformation during growth also
have a hearing on changes during fattening because usually growth is
associated with varying degrees of fattening. Thus we find consider-
able attention being given to the effects of fattening on body conforma-
tion in such works as those of Wagner(19)** and Hansen(7) and
Brody(]  The work of Henseler(8) on the effect of feeding upon the
conformation of swine deals directly with this point in swine but the
number of animals was quite small. Likewise the studies of Cochel

*R. E. Dickson, Superintendent of Substation No. 7, and J. H. Jones and
W. E. Flint assisted in taking and recording the measurements and weights.
Without such assistance this study could not have been made.

“Numbers refer to the literature cited at the end of this Bulletin.

6 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

and Severson(2) on changes in the conformation of horses during
fattening, implicitly suggest that in cattle, too, We might expect to find
the greatest increases taking place in the muscular parts of the body a11d
especially in measurements of body Width.

In the extensive series of experiments at the Missouri Station on the
use of food by cattle, many body measurements Wertftjaken at intervals
on steers on good and poor rations. These measurements do not show
extreme changes during any one intervail, as the steers Which received
the good ration all the time were quite naturally fat from Weaning time
on a11d any change from time to time would be a measure of growth and
fattening. However, a comparison(1~l) of the average measurements
for the steers on the good, medium, and poor rations, combined with a
knowledge derived from slaughter tests that the steers differed much
more in fatness than in quantity of muscle or of skeleton, does TlTTélfit
the conclusions that the (litferences in the average measurements were"
largely caused by diflierences in the fatness of'the three groups of steers.
On this basis, it may be concluded that:

(a) Height at withersis atfiwcterl practically not at all by fatness.

(b) Height at hips is afiiecterl very little if at all by fatness.

(c) Length from shoulder to hips is slightly zitfccted by fatness.

(d) Length IITOH] shoulder to isehiuni increases distinctly with
fatness.

(e) Width of hips increases distinctly’ with fatness.

(f) lleart girth inerezises very greatly with increases in fatness.
Uther measurements are given for each zininial but are not. averaged or
othervrise analyzed.

Seven measuiwaiieiits taken at the beginning and end of fattening of
four lots of calves and three lots of two-yrear-old steers at theflyplning
Statio11(9,10) were analyzed el1ieliy' with 1'i.~i'<ir<>1i<eis to their relation to
type (i. e. to ranginess versus lour-setness) as determined visually by
experienced judges. Ileart girth, Width at hips, depth of chest, and
paunch girth all showed large increases during the fattening of two-
year-old steers. Height at Withers showed a small increase and the dis-
tance from the floor of the chest to the ground showed a distinct de-
crease. All measurements of the calves increased. during fattening but
the greatest increases Were in heart girth, width at hips, and paunch
girth. The increase in (lepth of ClWSi; was slightly less and the increases
in cannon circumference, height at withers, and body length were much
less than in the first three measurements mentioned. The increase was
least of all in the distance from chest floor to the ground. Ratios of
heart girth or paunch girth or chest depth to height at withers are pro-
posed as the best objective measures ot type (i. e. of loW-setness as com-
pared to ranginess).

In the steer feeding experiments reported by Evvard, Culbertson, Wal-
lace, and Hammond(3, 4 and  in Leaflets Nos. 16, 22, and 23 from
the Iowa Agrirzultural Experiment Station, heart girth, 11211111011 girth,
shoulder height, and rump height were. nieaslired on the steers both thin

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 7

and fat and the average increase and percentage increase were calculated.

For the most part these steers Were two-year-olds with about four months

between the two sets of measurements. A few were calves and yearlings.

All four measurements increased during fattening but heart girth and

paunch girth increased very much more than the two heights. On a

percentage basis the increase in heart girth was slightly greater than the

increase in paunch girth in all lots. In most lots shoulder height in-

creased more than rump height but there were some exceptions to this.

These Iowa results give a clear picture of two height measurements both ,1
increasing slightly and at very nearly the same rates during fattening?
while the two girth measurements increase very distinctly more than the I
height measurements and heart girth increases slightly but significantly
more than paunch girth. As was to be expected, the measurements of

the younger cattle increased more than those of the older cattle both

actually and on a percentage basis.

The most extensive American study on changes in the body measure-
ments of steers during intensive fattening is that conducted by Severson,
Gerlaugh and Bentley (16, 17) at the Pennsylvania Station and pub-
lished in various annual reports of that Station, especially in the annual
report for the year 1916-17. The detailed measurements and weights
for each animal are published but have not been averaged or summarized
with the object of seeing what changes took place during fattening.
However, three correlations bearing on this point are published. They
are:

Gain in live weight with increase in circumference of chest + .460 i .044
Gain in live weight with increase in circumference of paunch + 306i .056
Gain in live weight with increase in circumference of rear flank + .2031 .055

These correlation coefficients were calculated without any corrections
for heterogeneity of data and are probably very considerably lower than
they would have been had such corrections been made. That is to say,
other factors which were not the same for all lots (for example, differ-
ences in ration, initial weight, age, etc.) doubtless operated to conceal
part of the true correlation which existed between gain in live weight
and gain in the three measurements named. Our own data support the
conclusion that increasing circumference of chest is more closely corre-

elated with increasing weight during intensive fattening than is either

paunch circumference or rear flank circumference.

DESCRIPTION OF THE STEERS USED

it There were nineteen lots of steers totalling’ p185‘ head in these experi-
ments. Two lots of ten head each and one lot of nine head were pur-
chased, 28 head from the SMS ranch and one locally late in the fall of
1926. They were long-aged calves cut back from the 1926 crop and
short-aged calves cut back from the 1925 crop but were thrifty and of a
desirable feeder conformation and already carried a little more finish
when the feeding experiment began than any of the other sixteen lots

8 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION
‘J \ . \\

did. igThey" were predominantly of Hereford breeding but showed much
Shorthorn blood, four among the twenty-nine being white and several
being distinctly roan. Aside from the fact that they showed a greater
range of variation in Weight and size than was ideal, they were quite
desirable steers for experimental purposes. it These SMS steers were used
to test the desirability of grinding milo heads and of chopping sorghum
fodder before feeding to steers.

One lot of five steersewas purchased in the fall of 1924 from Mr. James
Uallan of Menard. These “refs sired by a high-grade Brahman bull out
of grade Hereford cows. They were purchased with the intention of
adding them to another lot of five head of similar breeding, so as to
make a single lot as large as is recommended in standard feeding experi-
ment procedure. However, the two groups of steers rem-ained quite
different from each other in their rates of gain and i11 several other
respects so that we have thought it best to treat them as two (litfereiit
groups except with respect to average daily ration. They could not be
treated separately in this respect because all ten steers were fed in the
same pen and of course there is no record of the proportion of feed con-
sumed by each group.

The other fifteen lots (totalling 151 steers) were bred on the Ranch

l7 Experiment Station (Substation No. 14), about thirty miles south of

 lots, each lot fed separately.

the town of Sonora. They include all of the steer calves which were
(lropped on the Station in the six calf crops from 1921 to 1926, in-
clusive, except two which were lost, five which died, and twelve which
were sicklbv or stunted or abnormal in some other way to such an extent
that it was thought best to omit data concerning them from these calcu-
lations. Besides steers actually removed from the pens during the feed-
ing period, five steers were excluded from these calculations bcause their
gains were less than the average gain of their lot by at least as much as
three times the standard deviation of that gain. We reasoned that when
the gain was this low, the chances were more than a hundred to one that
something" had been wrong with these steers, even though we had not
noticed it during the feeding. These six calf crops were fattened in
four different feeding seasons a11d also included three different types of
breeding. This explains why they were divided into as many as fifteen

The six lots called “Herefords” were sired by purebred Hereford bulls

 and were” out of giatfifiérerord cows which had at least five or six top-

crosses of Hereford blood. For commercial purposes they were therefore
practically equivalent to purebreds although of course not eligible to
iegistratioii.\\ The dates refer to the year in which the steers were born.
All were born in the spring of the year between the first of February and
the middle of June. The great majority of them were born between the
middle of February and the middle of April. The 1921, 1922, and 1923
Herefords were all sired by one bull while the Herefords and also the
back-cross steers for 1924, 1925, and 1926 were nearly all sired by an-
other bull. Four of the 1926 Hereford steers were sired by a third

    
  
  
  
  
   
 
  
   
    
   
 
 
  
   
 
   
  
 
 
    
  
   
   
   
   
  

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 9

“bull. One of tl1e 1926 back-cross calves was sired by a fourth bull. All
‘four bulls were purebred Herefords.

A The six lots calloedfBrahman” were out of the same kind of cows as the
;{i“Herefords” but were sired’ by high-grade Brahman bulls}; The .1921,
‘Q1922, and 1923 Brahmans were sired by a bull loaned by ‘the Pierce
estate, Pierce, Texas. This bull was three-fourths Brahman and one-
‘fourth grade Hereford and therefore these three groups of “Brahman”
ijsteers were really three-eighths Brahman and nearly five-eighths Here-
iiford. The 1924, 1925, and 1926 Brahmans were sired by a bull (lonateerl
{by the’ McFaddin estate, Marianna, Texas. This bull was sired by a
thirty-one thirty-seconds Brahman bull out of a fifteen-sixteenths Brah-
lsman cow and therefore may be called a sixty-one sixty-fourths Brahman
‘bull, although it should be emphasized that in such a system of breeding
;there is considerable variation in the amount of inheritance ivhieh
"Qdiffeireirt individual animals may actually receive from the l3rah1nar1
face, and therefore, that the use of fractions of blood as small as sixty-
fourths in describing individual animals is hardly accurate enough to be
_3;justified(12). Probably it is sufficiently accurate to say that this bull
frwas a high-grade Brahman containing a little more than fifteen-
psixteenths of Brahman blood. His calves out of high-grade llerefoixl

Hereford.

ulls and were out of cows which were of exactly the same breeding as
- steerscalled “Brahman.” j These cows were, with one exception, half
ii full sisters of the 1921, 1922, and 1923 Brahmans. The one (excels
ion was a cow which was a half-sister to the 1924 Brahmans and which
was accidentally bred so as to bring her first calf when she was two years
ld. lThe “Back-crosses” therefore contained about three-sixteenths
rahman blood, their maternal grandsire having been a three-quarter
rahlnan and their other three graniilparents having been pure or nearly
ure liferefords. i

J All of these Station-bred steers except the 1921 steers were kept in
‘he pastures of the Ranch Station until shortly before their fattening
ias to begin, when they were shipped to Substation N00, '7 at Spur,
here they were placed in dry lots for intensive fattening. The 1921
 eers were shipped to Spur in the spring of 1922 on account of drouth
"r short pastures at Sonora that season. They were grazed on rather
 anty pastures at Spur for about four months and then were given a
‘upplemental ration of a small amount of cottonseed cake and hulls.
1i hey were not actually started on full feed until nearly six months after
hey arrived at Spur. The 1922 and 1923 steers and the five Callan
v. eers were placed in the feedlots immediately upon their arrival and
ere starQed on full feed within less than two weeks after their arrival

b‘
c:

f Spur. f The 1924 and 1925 steers were on a preliminary feed in the
edlots a Spur a little more than a month before full feeding began.
‘he 1926 steers were in the feedlots at Spur for more than two months

cows were therefore a little less than half Brahman and almost half,

The tllllgcjiisicolle_d_~‘fB,ac_lg_§ro@es” were sired by purebred llereford ,

10 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

before full feeding began and, during more than a month of that pre-
liminary feeding, their preliminary ration was a fairly heavy one. Thus
they actually were fed for a longer time than the length of their formal
feeding period would indicate. During the last month of this prelim-
inary feeding period the three lots of SMS steers were also in the feed-
lots and were receiving a fairly heavy preliminary ration.

As these tests were primarily planned as breed tests, all of the steers
of each breeding were used unless they seemed to be actually sick or so
stunted that they would not be representative of normal cattle. In other
Words, the entire crop of normal steers was included. For this reason
the lots were not quite as uniform in size or type as would have been
desirable in a feeding test planned to test out the feeding value of some
particular feed. On the other hand, there was available for each of these
steers {except “the Oallan and SMS steers a detailed record of parentage,
birth weight, weights taken regularly about once in every 45 to 50 days
from birth until the steerfiivent in the feedlot, and measurements and
descriptions taken at intervals of approximately six months.\\ Since We
had this individual casehistorjy for each steer‘ to supplement our judg-
ment we feel that there is very little chance of our having included in
these data a really abnormal steer. The most doubtful case included
was one of the 1926 back-cross steers which seemed by all tests to be
normal and healthy, but was over two months younger than the other
four steers and therefore smaller and less well developed. The number
of steers is quite small in several lots but after the undesirable results
with the 1923 steers, it Was thought better to feed the steers available
With known histories than, for the purpose of having larger groups, to
buy steers which were out of other herds and were raised under some-
What different conditions. As far as possible, by the use of appropriate
statistical methods, we have sought to evaluate and make allowance for
the increased unreliability of averages which are based upon small
numbers.

All the steers fed in any one year were fed the same feeds but each lot
was kept on full feed according to its appetite. The aim was to feed
them all they would eat readily. To that end the feeder fed them as
much as they would take and yet be hungry at the next feeding. He
watched them closely and if any showed loss of appetite or undue loose-
ness of the bowels, the concentrates were promptly reduced for that lot
and increased gradually after the trouble had been corrected. The
feeds to be fed in any one year were determined by price and other
local considerations. ' Information about the rations and other pertinent
data about the feeding are given in Table 1. The grain was ground
shelled corn for the 1921 steers and milo heads for all the rest. The
milo heads were ground in all cases except the last SMS lot, to which
they were fed whole. The roughage was cottonseed hulls for the 1921
steers, cottonseed hulls and a little sorghum hay for the 1922 and 1923
steers, and sorgo fodder for all other lots. The sorgo fodder was chopped
by being run through an ensilage cutter for all except the first lot of

11

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING

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12 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

SMS steers and the last lot of SMS steers. Where sick or abnormal
steers Were removed from a lot, the feed records were corrected by sub-
tracting from the total feed consumed that proportion which the average

iveight of tl1e steers removed constituted of the average weight of the ~

entim lot.

DESCRIPTION OF MEASUREMENTS USED

Seventeen different linear measurements were studied. Two of these

(cannon circumference and Width at pin bones) were taken on only five I

of the nineteen groups of steers. Three measurements pertaining to the
head (muzzle circumference, length of head, and width at eyes) were

taken on only seven groups of steers. Height at hips was taken on only .

thirteen groups. Three measurements pertaining to the rump region
(width at hooks, width at thurls or hip joint, and length of pelvis) were
taken on seventeen groups. The remaining eight measurements were
taken on all nineteen groups of steers.

The (lifferent measurements are listed and described beloyv with per-
tinent remarks about their primary accuracy and are illustrated in
Figures 1 and 2.

1. Chest Width. (Figure 2, W.) This was the greatest width of‘
‘the chest measured just behind the shouldersfl‘ Calipers consisting of

two parallel arms, the one stationary and the other sliding, on a gradu-
ated rod (Figure 3, A) were used for the measuring. There were two
considerable sources of error in this measurement. The first was the
variable amount of pressure used in placing the caliper arms snugly
against the animal. This could not be entirely standardized no matter
how (‘fdfléflll the operator was. This was of little importance on thin
animals but was of considerable importance on fat ones. The second
source of error was in the position of the animal and the tenseness our
the muscles along its side. As far as possible the steers were placed in
a normal position before measuring and stood squarely on all four legs.
But these steers could not be posed as carefully as show animals and
many of them were so wild even when fat that it was absolutely neces-
sary to put them in a chute and stanchion to measure them at all. This
second source of error was more important when the steers were thin
than when they were fat and had become much gentler. This was the
least accurate of all measurements taken, excepting possibly width at
pin bones when the steers were fat.

2- LOiII Width- (Figure 2, L.) This was the width of the loin at a
point midway between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae, and there-
fore about half way between the forward edge of the pelvis and the rear
edge of the last rib. The points of the caliper used (Figure 3, B) were
pressed snugly against the sides of the loin buttno more pressure was
used than necessary to make sure that the caliper points were resting
against solid flesh. This measurement was almost totally free from
the. influence of variations in the position of the animal but was subject

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 13

to a considerable error in the amount of pressure applied. Relative to
its total size it was one of the least accurate measurements.

3- HeflrtGirth- (Figures 1 and 2, R.) This Was measured with a

i steel tape (Figure 3, D) drawn snugly around the body in a plane [ver-

pendicular t0 the long axis of the body at its smallest circumference,
which is just behind the front legs. This measurement is very slightly
affected by the zininial’s position and by variations in the tightness with
which the tape was drawn around the body. This latter source of error
was greater With the fat steers than With the thin ones. Relative to its
total size this is one of the most accurate of the measurements studied.

4- Flank Girth- (Figures 1 and 2, K.) This was measured with the
steel tape drawn snugly around the body at its smallest circumference
just in front of the hook bones at the top of the body and in the highest
point in the rear flank. The plane of this measurement Was not exactly
perpendicular to the long axis of the body, since it usually passed pver
the back at a point slightly farther forward than that at which it passed
under the body. This measurement Was subject to some error from
variations in the position of the animal and also to small errors from
uncontrollable differences in the tightness With which the tape Was
drawn. i

5- Pflllnch Girfll- (Figures 1 and 2, U.) This Was measured with
the steel tape and Was the greatest circumference of the body in any
plane perpendicular to the body axis. It Was affected somewhat by the
steer’s position, varying about a centimeter With each breath. However.
the position of the steer’s legs and head did not affect it very much and
its accuracy approaches that of the heart girth.

6. Pelvis Width OI’ Width at Thurls. (Figure Q,’  Thjg Wag meag-
ured with a caliper (Figure 3, B) With its points placed. snugly just
lateral to the hip joint on each side of the pelvis. It is very accurate
on thin steers but on real fat ones some error can arise through failure
to use exactly the same amount of pressure at each measuring.

7- Width at HOORS- (Figure 2,  This was measured With a
caliper (Figure 3, B) from the extreme lateral point of the hooks
(ilium) on one side to the corresponding point on the other side. It
Was a very accurate measurement since the steer’s position did not affect
it at all and only a few of the very fattest steers succeeded in putting so
much fatty tissue on the outside of the points measured, that differences
in the amount of pressure applied to the calipers had opportunity to
cause any noticeable error.

3- Depth 0f Clwst- (Figure 1,. D.) This Was measured With the
parallel bars (Figure 3,  It Was the smallest vertical outside
diameter of the chest. This measurement was comparatively accurate,
being affected only by the variable amount of pressure.

14

BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

Figure 1 .

MeasurementslStudied.

Sideview of HerefordISteer with Diagram Showing the Location of theaVarious

J  » - h.

L:-.__ .

Figure 2. Top V
Measurements Studie

iew of Hereford Steer with Diagram Showing the Location of the Various

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BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 15

9- Length 0f Pelvis- (Figures 1 and 2, Y.) This measurement was
taken with a caliper (Figure 3, B) from the extreme posterior point of
the pin bone (tuber ischii) t0 the extreme anterior point of the hook
bone (ilium) on the same side, so far as that could be located definitely
on the live animal. This measurement was rather accurate on the thin
steers but there was a small amount of error with the real fat steers in
locating the exact anterior point of the measurement.

19- Length 0f BOdY- (Figures 1. and 2, B.) This was measured
with the parallel bars (Figure 3, A). It was the distance, in a line
parallel to the axis of the body, from the extreme anterior point of the
shoulder point (tuberosity of the humerus) to the extreme posterior
point of the pin bone (tuber ischii). It was subject to considerable
error due to the position of the steer, but the abnormal position could
be seen easily and its effects upon the measurement could be estimated
fairly Well.

Figure 3. Instruments Used for Measuring these Steers. A, Cattle Measuring Standard
with spirit level attached, Lydtin’s model. B, Caliper used for measurements of pelvic region
and for loin width. C, Caliper used for measuring length of head and width at eyes. D,
steel tape used for measuring girths and circumferences. A large Wooden caliper (not shown
in the picture) catalogued by the Central Scientific Company was used 1n place of instruments
A, B, and C on the very earliest groups of steers.

11- Canlwn Circllmferellce- (Figure 1, V.) This measurement Was
taken with the steel tape pulled tightly around the foreleg at the smallest
place between knee and fetlock joint. It was most accurate in absolute
units and relatively more accurate than any other measurement except
length of head. Its sources of error were possible failure to find the
very smallest place on the cannon bone and differences in the tightness
of the tape when the reading was taken. Also care had to be taken that
there was no dried mud or other foreign matter under the tape.

l6 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

12- Width at Pin BOIIeS- (Figure 2, N.) This measurement was
taken with the calipers (Figure 3, B) and was from the extreme lateral
point of the pin bone (tuber ischii) on one side t0 the corresponding
point 0n the other. It was comparatively accurate on very thin steers
but was extremely inaccurate on fat steers because of the difficulty of
locating the exact points from which the measurement was to be taken.
It is certainly the most inaccurate measurement which was attempted
on fat steers.

13- Muzzle Cirellmferenee- (Figures 1 and 2, M.) This was taken
with the steel tape drawn rather tightly around the nose (including the
lower jaw) at the smallest place just back of the nostrils. It was subject
to considerable error in the tightness of the tape and, in a few cases,
there was some difficulty in getting the steers to hold their jaws closed
in the normal position.

14- Height Over Withers» (Figure 1, P.) This was the vertical dis-
tance from the highest point over the withers to the ground. It is the
most widely used measurement in studies of animal form and quite fre-
quently is used as the standard for reducing all other measurements to
relative figures ('7). Its accuracy is dependent upon the position of the
steer but is very little influenced by differences in the pressure with
which the arm of the measuring standard is applied and very little by
any differences in the tenseness of the steer’s muscles. If the steer
carries his head up, has his back level and his forefeet placed squarely
under him, this is a very accurate and useful measurement. However,
many of our steers were so wild that they could not be thus carefully
posed and it was often necessary to estimate what correction was needed
for one which kept its head down or which persisted in pulling back
against the stanchion. For this reason this measurement in these data
was probably less accurate than that of height over hips.

15- Length 0f Head- (Figures 1 and 2, A.) This was measured
with a small straight-arm caliper (Figure 3, C) and was the extreme
length of the head from the highest point on the poll to the end of the
muzzle, measured in a straight line parallel to the long axis of the front
surface of the head. It was exceedingly accurate, being subject only to
a very small error in the amount of pressure applied to the caliper arm
which rested against the soft tissue of the muzzle.

16- Height Qvel‘ HiPS- (Figure 1, T.) This was the vertical dis-

tance from the highest point midway between the hooks to the ground.

Its accuracy was very dependent upon the position of the steer but only
slightly dependent upon fatness or tenseness of muscles. When it was
found impossible to pose a steer in normal position, corrections due to
the back being arched or to the hind legs being too far forward were
estimated, probably with a higher degree of accuracy in these data than
was possible for height over Withers.

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 17

17- Width at EYeS- (Figures 1 and 2, E.) This was measured with
a small straight-arm caliper (Figure 3,  and was the greatest width
of the head at a point about level with the eyes. Since the skull is rigid
and has only a thin covering of skin at this point, this measurement was
quite accurate.

The attempt was made t0 safeguard at all times the accuracy of the
primary measurements in every practical way.  Each measurement was
taken three times and between times the measuring instrument was re-
moved entirely from its position, so that any error which might have
arisen through the incorrect placing of the instrument might be mini-
mized. So far as it could be done Without slowing down the work
materially, the first readings were taken for all measurements in which
the same instrument was used before the second readings were taken for
any of them, and the second readings were all completed before any of
the third readings were taken. By this device it Was sought to give the
observer time to forget the first reading and thus to remove any uncon-
scious bias against a second reading which was materially different from
the first. Also this gave the steer time to change position although
many of them retained the same position throughout the measuring.
The observer consciously refrained from looking at the measurement
scale until he was sure the instrument was in proper position. This
precaution was also planned to guard against any unconscious bias of the
observer toward certain numbers or already recorded measurements. All
measurements were made by the writer himself in all cases.

- These various precautions went very far toward minimizing or elimi-
nating all errors of measurement except those caused by the steer’s fail-
ure to stand in a perfectly normal position. No practical objective Way
to eliminate this source of error was found. To have taken one reading
of each measurement on a steer, then to have turned him loose and an
hour or so later to have caught him again for the second set of measure-
ments and to have repeated this later for the third set would have met
this difficulty partially but was not feasible under the limitations of these
experiments. Moreover, such a large amount of handling the steers
seemed likely to interfere with other practical aspects of the experiment,
such as the daily gains, amount of bruising shown by carcasses, etc.,
which seemed of much more importance than extreme refinement of
accuracy in these measurements.

Under these circumstances it is evident that the measurements involv-
ing the least fat and muscle and affected by the angles of the fewest
joints were the most accurately taken. Unfortunately those are the
measurements which give the least direct information about the disposi-
tion of the lean and the fat tissue on the steer’s body!

The only available data designed primarily to show the accuracy of
these various measurements were collected on Jersey cows. Those data,
previously unpublished, are given in a summarized form in Table 2, and
should give a rough guide to the comparative accuracy of the different
measurements. They do not apply exactly, because the dairy cows

1S ‘BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

differed from the steers in general shape and also were gentle and could
be posed in a position closely approaching normal. However, these data
may apply fairly well to the thin steers. The figures were obtained by
measuring each of nine cows aged from two to thirteen years eleven times.
Between measurements each cow was led off the platform where the
measuring. was done and at least two other cows were measured before
another set of measurements were taken on the first cow. For estimating
the accuracy of the measurements, the resulting data are the statistical
equivalent of 91 sets of measurements taken on a single cow. The
standard error of each measurement was calculated by methods similar
to those used in a previous study of the accuracy of weights(13). The
error thus found in centimeters, when multiplied by 100 and divided by
the average size of the corresponding measurement on the nine cows
studied, becomes what we have termed the “coefficient of error” in
Table 2. This figure expresses the standard error of the measurement
as a percentage of the average size of the measurement. It differs from
the usual coefficient of variation in that this includes only the errors of
measuring and changes in the cow’s position and does not include any
variation caused by real differences in the average measurements of the
cows used.

Table 2. Actual and Relative Errors of Various Measurements as Determined on Nine Dairy
Cows in Fair Flesh.

Average Standard Coefficient of
Deviation of Error
Measurement Studied Measurements (per cent)
Made Upon the
Same Cow.

(Centimeters)
Head Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 .49

Cannon Circumference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .08 .54

Width at Hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 .67

Height over Withers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92 .77

Heart Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .37 .83

Paunch Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .78 .87

Height over Hips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .09 .90

Pelvis Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 .91

Width at Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . o .20 .93

Depth of Chest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67 1.03

Width at Pin Bones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 1 .09

Flank Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.90 1.10

Length of Pelvis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 1 .26

Loin Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 1 .55

Length of Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.53 1.79

Muzzle Circumference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 2 .00

Chest Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .30 3 .68

METHODS OF CALCULATION

These measurements were studied not for any intrinsic interest attach-
ing to the measurement itself, but for the information which that
measurement might reveal about the changes in body shape or cone
formation during the fattening period. In the idea of shape or con-
formation it is not the absolute size of the measurement which matters,
but it is the relative size of the measurement, relative, that is, to
other measurements or to weight or to some other expression for the

f“ r‘, 4__
I  v13.“

 f l‘ y, ‘  /
M,

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 19

general size of the animal. Thus We may have a large steer and a small
steer of very similar conformation. The absolute measurements and
the Weights of the two steers Will be very different but the ratios of one
measurement to another will be very nearly the same for both steers.
In studying changes in conformation, therefore, We are studying changes y

in the ratios of measurements rather than changes in the measurements *7 i

themselves. Conformation or shape is a matter of relative measurements.
In such a study it is important that the best measurement or index
of general size be chosen as the standard to which each of these measure-
ments is to be compared. fireregwage, twostandardswrather enerally -
used for thisypurposegnamely, heightulover Withers andweigli. ‘he
former has certain mathematical advantages andiprobably would be
preferable with dairy cattle. However, the extreme importance of
Weight in feeding experiments with beef cattle and also the fact that
Weight is a good index of general size and in a Way sums up the effects
of all measurements, thereby minimizing the effects of individual varia-
tion in any one or tWo measurements, seemed to compel the use of Weight
in this study as the standard With Which to compare actual measure-
ments. It seemed necessary to use the cube root of the Weight rather
than the Weight for the following reasons. llrrtwo geometrically similar l},
solids of uniform and equal densities, any linear dimension ‘of the one ‘
is in the same ratio to the corresponding dimension of the other as the
cube root of the WeightJ (or volumelwofwthe first is to the other. Now .
While cattle have neither a uniform nor aiiconstant density, yet that
density probably does not vary widely(20) and it is scarcely possible
that such variations as do occur Will be large enough to affect very
noticeably ratios derived from Weights and linear measurements. For
example, the process of fattening Which might be expected to increase
density by the deposition of fat in the spaces around the vital organs
has also some compensating action in the opposite direction through
the fact that the fatty tissue does increase the body dimensions some-
what and has a lighter specific gravity than the rest of the animal tissues.
It may be objected that we never have two steers which are exactly
similar in the geometrical sense of the Word. But that is exactly the
point which We Wish to study. A ratio is Wanted which will reveal
changes which take place in the geometrical shape of a steer’s body
When he changes from a thin condition to a very fat one rapidly. The
most serious objection to this ratio (measurement to cube rootvofgweight)
as an index of changing shape duringfattening is that it also changes
someW ._With age and, on steers as young as these, the changes which
Woul have occurred with the increase in age during the three-to-four-
month feeding period are distinctly noticeable. The observed changes
in the ratios during fattening are, therefore, the combined results of
age-changes and fatness-changes. The age-changes are, of course, less
extreme on the older steers. Also many studies of age-changes have
been made on other cattle, especially on dairy cattle. From these other
stidies and from the observed differences in shape-changes in the older

2O BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

and the younger steers in this study a fairly satisfactory estimate can
be made of the extent to which the observed changes in this study were
really caused by increasing fatness independent of normal growth.

The method of calculating the ratios is illustrated in Table 3 for some
of the 1921 Herefords.

Table 3. Illustrating the Method of Calculating the Ratios.

October 31-November 2, 1923 February 28—March 2, 1924
Width of Cube Root Width of Cube Root
_ Chest Weight of Ratio Chest Weight of Ratio
Steer Number (Centi- (Pounds) Weight (Centi- (Pounds) Weight
In meters) meters)
95...... . . . . . . . . .. 31.03 496.7 7.919 3.918 40.17 880 9.583 4.192

97...‘ . . . . . . . . . . . .. 32.47. 509.3 7.986 4.066 41.07 854.7 9.490 4.328

98 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 36.73 591.3 8.393 4.376 44.10 954 9.844 4.480

101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 30.63 453.3 7.682 3.987 40.67 758.7 9.121 4.459

102 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 28.10 438.0 7.594 3 .700 38.23 736.7 9.031 4.233

103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 30.97 586.7 8.371 3.700 42.73 914.7 9.707 4.402

The method of calculating the change in ratios during fattening is
illustrated in Table 4.

Table 4. Change in Relative Width of Chest during Fattening. 1921 Hereford Steers.

Ratio _when Ratio when Percentage
Steer Number Thin Fat Difference Change
95¢ . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 918 4.192 +.274 + 7.0

97 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4 066 4.328 +.262 + 6.4

98 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 4 376 4.480 +.104 + 2.4

101 . . . . . . _ . . . . . .. ,3 987 4.459 +.472 +11.8

102 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 700 4.233 +.533 +14.4

103 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 700 4.402 +.702 +19.0

105 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 976 4.344 +.368 + 9.3

106 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l3 570 4.296 +.726 +20.3

107 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. g3 964 4.503 +.539 +13.6

108 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 3 703 4.331 +.628 +1 .0

109 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. [3 430 4.347 +.917 +26.7

110 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. i 3 796 4.288 +.492 +13.0

111 . . . . . . . . . . . . .. l4 043 4.658 +.615 +15.2

Total . . . . . . . . 50.229 56.861 6.632 +176.1O

Average . . . . .. 3.864 4.374 .510 + 13.55
Standard

Deviation. . . . .247 .157 .220 6.48
Coefficient of

Variation..... 6.4% . 3.6% 43.1% 47.8%

The usual biometrical formulae were used in these calculations
except that the idea which Fisher(6) calls “degrees of freedom” and
which in its simplest form is expressed in Bessel’s formula was taken
into account in calculating the standard deviation. This seemed rather
important on populations as small as most of these Were. While the
fact that We are dealing here with ratios and percentages might seem
to require the use of logarithms or reciprocals instead of the actual
figures, yet the ratios within any one group do not vary widely and
individual percentage changes as large as 20.0 are quite rare. The use
of the actual figures under these circumstances does not introduce any
very noticeable error and does make calculation easier and makes» it
possible for most readers to follow the argument much more easily tl an

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 21

if logarithms or reciprocals were involved. There was a table similar
to Table 4 for each group of steers for each measurement or 247 such
tables in all. As it is not feasible to publish all those tables, the most
essential items of information from each of them (the calculations at the
bottom of the last column) are summarized in Tables 5 to 21, inclusive,
one table for each measurement studied. The figures in that last column
thus show the relative rates of increase in the measurement and in the
cube root of the weight. If the measurement and the cube root of the
weight increase at the same rate during fattening the change in the cubic

_ ratio will be zero. That is what would happen if the increase in weight

during fattening were equally distributed all over the body. Therefore
percentage changes which are sensibly greater than zero indicate that the
part measured increases in size during fattening relatively faster than
the steer as a whole does. Likewise, percentage changes which are
sensibly less than zero indicate that the part measured increases in size
daring fattening relatively less rapidly than the steer as a whole does.
A negative percentage change does not mean that the part measured has
actually decreased in size. It merely means that that part has increased
less rapidly than the weight has increased and presumably, therefore, that
the increase in weight was deposited much more in other parts of the
body than it was in the part described by that measurement.

RESULTS
Chest Width

The data showing the percentage changes in relative chest width are
given in Table 5.

Table 5. Summary of Changes in Relative Chest Width during Fatte ning.

Number of Standard
Group, Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 -l-13.5 6.5

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +153 13.6

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —l-17.7 7.3

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 —r17.8 11.2

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O ~— 9.6 9.2

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 -—12.8 9.3

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —— 1.0 7.2

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 --19.3 9.8

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 -— 2.7 5.5

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 -- 8.8 1.9

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ~- 8.0 5.8

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 -- 9.8 7.2

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 —- 4.6 10.2

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —— 7.4 7.8

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 --10. 1 10.4

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——10.7 3.0

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 -— .4 4.2

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 -— .9 8.3

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + 1.8 5.7

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 9.29 :|=.41% 8.20%

In every group but one, chest width increased more rapidly than
weight did. There is unmistakable evidence of group heterogeneity,

22 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

according to Fisher’s Z-test for significance of difference in variance.
In fact, Z is more than three times as large as the limit beyond which P
falls below .05. (P is the probability on a scale of zero to 1.00 that all
these groups of steers were random samples taken from the same popula-
tion, so far as this measured characteristic was concerned.) It is clear
that the averages of the different groups differ from each other far more
than would be caused by errors of sampling from a single homogeneous
population. For this reason a calculated. probable error or coefficient of
variation for this weighted average does not have quite the usual sig-
nificance. The size of the Weighted average itself depends upon the
character of the different groups of steers which were included in its
calculation. Thus, if more groups like the 1921 and 1922 steers had
been included the average change would have been larger while if more
groups like the SMS steers had been included the average change would
have been less. The close correspondence between the average changes
made by groups of the same age and fed during the same feeding period
is good evidence that the age and condition of the steers and the condi-
tions peculiar to each feeding trial had a marked influence upon the
amount of the average change. This similarity of the changes made
by groups of the same age fed at the same time is very noticeable in all
except the 1923 a11d 1924 steers, where conditions peculiar to each group
of steers seem to have been more important in determining the average
amount of change than were conditions which applied to all the steers
of the same age which were being fed at the same time and measured at
the same time. The calculated probable error expresses only the error
of sampling within each group. It is a measure of the net effect of two
classes of errors,—the errors in taking the measurement when the steers
were either thin or fat and sampling errors arising from the fact that
not all steers within the same group changed at the same rate either in
measurements or in weight. The calculated average and the probable
error are subject to the usual interpretation when applied to samples
from a universe consisting only of the nineteen populations from which
these nineteen groups actually studied were (presumably) random
samples, and only when the sample contains the same proportion of
steers from each of these various populations as was contained in the
sample of 185 steers from which this average and this probable error

.were calculated. It is not safe to generalize from these figures that

the relative chest width of all steers fed for 110 to 120 days increases
about 9.3 per cent during fattening. It probably is safe or at least

is much safer to generalize to the extent of saying that in all fattening '

steers the relative chest width increases faster than the relative chest
depth or relative body length (to be shown later). T
These same limitations apply to the interpretation of the average
change of the other measurements still to be shown. Measurements
taken on all nineteen groups of steers can be compared directly. Those

which were taken on only seventeen groups or fewer must be discussed

with additional reservations.

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 23

There seems to be no breed difference in the changes in relative chest
width. There are six comparisons between Herefords and entirely com-
parable groups of Brahmans. In five of these the Brahmans show the
greater increase but the 1924 Herefords show so much greater increase
than the 1924 Brahmans that the average difference (regarding each
group as a unit) is 1.18 per cent and the Herefords show the greater
increase. This difference is quite without significance, P being between
.70 and .75 (Fisher’s modified “Students method”

From the individual ratios it is very evident by inspection that there
is a very low correlation or even a negative correlation between the thin
and fat ratios of each animal. This seems to mean that there is a large
error in taking the primary measurement. A relatively narrow chest
width when the steer is thin might be due either to a chest which was
actually quite narrow or it might be due to errors in taking the measure-
ment. If due to the former it would be expected still to be relatively
narrow when the steer becomes fat although of course it may not be
impossible for some narrow-chested steers at the beginning of feeding
actually to surpass the average steers of their lot in the width of chest
before the feeding period is ended. On the other hand, if the error
in taking measurement is very large, an apparently narrow-chested steer
at the beginning is apt to have been nearly an average steer and is almost
as apt to receive a Wide measurement as a narrow one when fat. These
correlations were not all calculated but the one for the largest group (the
17 head of 1926 Brahmans) was found to be -—.006. From inspection
of the ratios in other groups this correlation seemed to be fairly typical
of the general situation.

The changes in relative chest width during fattening may be summed
up by saying that this measurement increases much more rapidly than
weight does and in fact more rapidly than any other measurement in-
cluded in this study. It is, however, a very erratic measurement, and
hence very limited in usefulness as an indicator of fatness in single
steers. Most of the wide variation in this measurement is tentatively
ascribed to primary errors in measuring. Probably it would be found to
be much more reliable on thoroughly gentle steers and if the measuring
instrument used has larger contact surfaces, so as to minimize differences
in the pressure with which the instrument is applied.

Loin Width

The summary of the data showing the changes in relative loin width
is given in Table 6.

In all but two of the groups the loin width increased faster than the
weight did. The two exceptions are both groups containing very small
numbers and one of them (the 1923 purchased Brahmans) was quite
different from the other groups in respect to gains and most of the shape
changes. The changes show only about half as large a standard devia-
tion as the changes in chest width. Next to chest width this measure-
ment shows a greater increase during fattening than any other of the

24 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT ‘STATION

measurements studied. Fattening is distinctly a process which widens
the loin.

The nineteen groups of steers do not form a homogeneous population.
(Z is more than three times as large as it is at the point where P falls
to .05.) Special circumstances applying to individual groups or to
certain ages or to certain feeding seasons have much to do with deter-
mining the value of the average changes in relative loin width.

Table 6. Summary of Changes in Relative Loin Width during Fattening.

I
Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +7.6 5.0

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 +6.9 7.3

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +6. 1 5.8

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 +2.8 5.7

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +6.9 4.1

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . » 5 -—3.1 2.9

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —1 .6 2.1

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +3.1 4.9

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +0.4 4.1

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +3 .4 4.0

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .' 10 +1.3 3.5

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +3.2 3.5

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +3.3 2.8

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +9.0 4.0

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 +6.7 4.1

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 +5.8 3.5

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +9.6 4.9

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +9.3 1.9

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 +7.5 2.4

Total. . . .' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +5 . 18 d: .22 4.39

There is a suggestion of a breed difference in this measurement. In
five of the six comparisons the Herefords increased more than the
Brahmans did. The average diiference (giving each group equal
Weight) is 2.9 per cent but P is about .16 and therefore this difference
cannot be regarded as surely significant. It suggests a breed difference

but does not prove one.
Heart Girth

The summary of data showing the changes in relative heart girth is
given in Table 7.

Except for the six groups fed during the last season and one other
small group, the change is distinctly positive although it is smaller than
in the case of the two measurements already discussed. The nineteen
groups are very distinctly not samples from a single homogeneous
population. Z is nearly four times as large as it is at the limit at which
the probability of the population being a homogeneous one falls below
.05. A considerable part of this heterogeneity is caused by conditions
common to all lots fed at the same time. Thus all but one of the last
six lots (fed in the winter of 1926-27) show very small changes, while
both the first two lots show large changes. All but one lot of the 1922
and 1923 steers (fed in the winter of 1924-25) show large changes and
all but one lot of the 1924 and 1925 steers (fed in the winter of 1925-26)

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 25

show positive changes of a medium size. There is a suggestion of a
breed difference here. The six Hereford groups averaged .77 more in-
crease than the six comparable Brahman groups. However, this differ-
ence is not convincing because the probability is about .12 that a differ-
ence this large or larger in either direction could have been the result of
chance. The data suggest but do not prove that the Herefords in-
creased more rapidly in heart girth than the Brahmans.

Table 7. Summary of Changes in Relative Heart Girth during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +3.3 2.4

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1O +2.8 2.0

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +4.1 1.8

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 +3.2 2.4

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +3.0 2.2

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 + .8 2.6

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 +2.5 .9

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +2.8 2.2

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +1.0 1 .2

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +2.4 1 .9

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +1.6 1 .6

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +2.1 2.0

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 -— .2 1.3

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 + .2 1.5

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 + .4 2.3

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —- .7 1.8

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —~ .6 1 .3

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + .3 2.1

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 —-1.8 1 .4

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +1 .55 i. 1O 1 .92

Flank Girth

The summary of data showing the changes in relative flank girth is
given in Table 8.
Table 8. Summary of Changes in Relative Flank Girth during Fattening.

Number of Standard]
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +2.7 2.7

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O + .5 3.9

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +4.2 2.0

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 +2.1 4.6

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +2.2 2.9

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 — .6 4.3

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——2. 1 1 .7

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +3.9 2.5

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + .8 1,8

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +2.5 2.9

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O + .6 2.8

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +1.7 2.8

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 — .8 4.6

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —- . 1 2.1

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 -—3.0 2.4

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——1 .9 2.4

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +2.4 2.8

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + .3 3.2

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + .6 3.6

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + .97 $.14 2 88

26 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

The average change is distinctly positive although a good many of
the single groups are negative. The entire population of 185 is quite
heterogeneous, Z being about three times as large as it is at the limit
where P falls below .05.

There is good evidence of a breed difference in this measurement.
The unweighted average of the six Hereford groups is +"1.98 greater
than the unweighted average of the six corresponding Brahman groups.
The probability of a difference this large or larger occurring just as a
matter of chance is .03. The difference is therefore statistically sig-
nificant and we may conclude that the Herefords do increase faster than
the Brahmans in relative flank girth. Several reasons for this differ-
ence may be suggested. It is barely possible that the Brahmans on
account of their greater wildness, especially when thin, hold their flank
muscles much more tense when being measured and thus have a larger
measurement when they are thin than the Herefords do. When the
Brahmans become fat the flanks are fuller and lower and such tenseness of
muscles would hardly influence the measurements at all. While this
possibility must be admitted, in the author’s opinion another explana-
tion is much more plausible. The Brahman normally carries a fuller
flank and a smaller paunch relative to general size than the Hereford
does. When thin the Hereford becomes quite small and “drawn” in
the region of the rear flank. Not so with the Brahman, which has a
conformation more like that of the hog or the horse in this respect. The
thin Brahman has a larger relative flank girth than the equally thin
Hereford, whereas when fat there is not much difference in this respect.
The apparently greater increase of the Herefords in flank girth is, in
the author’s opinion, a real one and is due to the fact that the Brahmans

~ do not shrink as much as the Herefords do in flank girth when thin.

The back-cross steers were intermediate in this respect, averaging
somewhat more nearly like the Brahmans but being quite irregular.
Flank girth is a considerably more variable measurement than heart
girth, due largely to the greater influence of the animaPs position upon
the accuracy of the flank girth measurement. Since it also increases
less with increasing fatness, flank girth is, for most purposes, a dis-
tinctly less useful measurement than heart girth is. It is quite likely
that variations in the amount of stomach and intestinal contents (“fill”)
would materially affect both this measurement and paunch girth.

Paunch Girth

The summary of data showing the changes in relative paunch girth is
given in Table 9.

The average change is negative but is so irregular and so small relative
to its probable error that it is quite insignificant even apart from the
fact that the nineteen groups of steers are not random samples from a
single homogeneous population. Z is more than three times as large as
it is at the limit for which the probability that this population is
homogeneous falls below .05. The reasons for this heterogeneity are

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 27

not clear, but they seem to be associated with age and with the conditions
which pertained to each feeding period and to each time of measurement.
This is shown by a very general tendency for the Hereford and the
Brahman groups which were born in the same year to resemble each
other very closely in the average changes which they made.

Table 9. Summary of Changes in Relative Paunch Girth during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —2.5 3.2

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ——3.8 2.2

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +5.2 3.4

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 +2.9 4.4

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +1.7 2.3

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 — .8 2.4

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——-3.3 2.3

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +1.9 1.9

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —— .4 2.8

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + .9 1.2

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —— .6 1 .5

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 , + .6 2.8

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +1.6 4.1

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —6.2 3.0

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 ——5.4 4.6

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——1 .9 1.7

‘SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +3.9 1.8

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +1.1 3.3

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 +2 .3 1.8

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —— .35 $.15 2.97

There is fair but hardlyconclusive evidence of a breed difference. The
unweighted average decrease of the six Brahman groups is 1.25 more
than for the comparable Hereford groups. The probability that this
large a difference could be due to chance alone is about .07. Unpub-
lished slaughter data show that the Brahmans have very distinctly
smaller digestive tracts. This is, in the author’s opinion, the explana-
tion of why the Brahmans show a greater relative decrease in paunch

girth during fattening. Their digestive tracts have not the ability to’

grow as large under conditions of full feeding as do the digestive tracts
of the Herefords. This explanation is also supported by the fact
(evident in Table 1) that the daily feed consumption of the Herefords
in proportion to their live weight was greater in every case than that of
the Brahmans when both lots were fed according to appetite. However,
the back-cross steers show an increase in relative paunch girth whereas
both the Hereford and the Brahman comparable groups show a distinct

decrease.
Pelvis Width

The summary of data showing the changes in relative pelvis width is
given in Table 10. Measurements of pelvis width were not made on the
1921 steers.

The average change in pelvis width is negative but is so small that it
could not be considered significant‘ even if the entire population had
proved to be homogeneous in this respect. There is unmistakable evi-

28 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

dence of group heterogeneity, Z being more than three times as large as
it is at the limit at which the probability of the entire group being a
homogeneous one falls below .05.

Table 10. Summary of Changes in Relative Pelvis Width during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1922 Ilerefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ———1 .3 3.8

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 —-—2.1 2.9

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —2.0 2.4

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——1 .8 2.4

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —4.2 3.7

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —1.0 2.8

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +3.2 2.9

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +3.0 3.6

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +2.4 2.8

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +1.2 3.4

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +3.6 3.1

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +1 .3 2.4

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 + .8 1 .3

1926 Back-crossses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —3.4 4.5

SlVIS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —2.3 1 . 1

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —~1.2 2.0

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 — .5 1.4

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — O5 i. 14 2 73

There is no evidence of a breed diiference in this respect, as the
probability is somewhat greater than + .70 that an average difference-
as large as or larger than the observed difference could easily have
arisen by chance alone.

There is no clear-cut evidence of an age difference. Conditions pe-

culiar to the 1925-26 feeding period seem to have had an important
effect as five of those six groups show large positive changes and only
two other groups show any positive changes at all.

Pelvis width seems to almost or not quite keep pace with increasing-
weight during fattening.

Width at Hooks

The summary of data showing the changes in relative width at hooks»
is given in Table 11. Measurements of width at hooks were not made
on the 1921 steers.

Again the statistical test shows that these 1'7 groups do not form a
single homogeneous group in this respect, Z being nearly three times as
large as the limit for which the probability of homogeneity falls below
.05. The average change is positive but this fact can be regarded as
significant only within the limits prescribed by the evident heterogeneity"
of the population.

The Brahmans show a more rapid increase than the Herefords in
width of hips but this difference seems likely to have been quite acci-
dental, the probability of that being .20.

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 29

Table 11. Summary of Changes in Relative Width at Hooks during Fattening.

     

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ——1 .9 3.9

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 +1.1 2.0

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —2.0 2.9

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 — .2 1.3

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —- .5 .7

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + .1 2.8

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 -—— .5 2.9

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +2. 1 2.3

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + .8 1 .6

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + .8 3.2

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +2.0 2.9

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +1.4 1 .5

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 +2. 1 2.1

1926 Back crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 +3.3 1 . 1

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +3.0 1.4

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +3.2 1 .5

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 +2.7 1.0

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + .89 $.13 2.41

 

There seems to be an age difference here because the last nine groups
(all of which were younger than the first eight groups) show positive
changes Which are rather large in most cases. New-born and very young
calves are relatively narrow at the hooks and wide at the thurls. From
about weaning time to sexual maturity this condition is rapidly reversed
in steers and still more rapidly in heifers. The younger groups of steers
in this study were fed during that period of their normal growth when
the hooks are widening very rapidly to meet the demand of the body for
wider and stronger places of attachment for the muscles and other
tissues which are to support the rapidly increasing weight and volume
of the digestive organs(7). In view of this special condition applying
to width at hooks, the positive sign of the weighted average change
should probably be interpreted as due more to normal growth in this
measurement than to a direct effect of fattening itself.

Depth of Chest

The summary of data showing the changes in relative depth of chest
is given in Table 12.

The general change is distinctly negative, only one group showing a
positive change and that a very small change. The changes made by
the different groups are quite uniform in amount except for the rather
large decreases shown by the 1924 steers and the rather small decreases
shown by the 1925 steers. No explanation is suggested for the divergence
of these steers from the general trend. The 1924 and 1925 steers were
measured and fed at the same time and therefore any efiect of season or
feed or peculiarity in the taking of the measurement should have been
the same for those groups. .

Even including the 1924 and 1925 steers, heterogeneity is less extreme
than in the case of the measurements thus far discussed. When all 19
groups are included Z is about one and a half times as great as it is at

3'0 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

Table 12. Summary of Changes in Relative Depth of Chest during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —2.0 1.7

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —2.5 2.2

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ——2.3 2.4

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 --2.2 3.3

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O -——1.9 1.7

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —2.6 2.9

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —2.2 3.2

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —3.0 1 .6

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ——3.8 1.6

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ——2.2 1.5

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O ——1 .5 2.1

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + .2 1.7

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 —1 . 1 2.0

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —2.2 1.1

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 —1.9 3.4

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —2.2 2.0

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —2.0 1.6

SMS Ground raion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1O ———1 .4 1.3

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 —2_2 1_1

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —1.95 $.11 2.13

   

the limit for which the probability of homogeneity falls below .05. With
the 1924 and 1925 steers excluded, the other thirteen groups seem to
form a homogeneous population with regard to changes in relative chest
depth. This seems to suggest strongly that relative chest depth is very
little influenced by age, breed, or the other special conditions peculiar
to each group of steers. Fattening is very much less a matter of deepen-
ing than it is of widening the chest.

There is no evidence of a breed difference. The Herefords show a
little less extreme decrease in relative chest depth than the Brahmans
do but the probability that a difference this large or larger could occur
by chance alone is more than .80 and the difference therefore is utterly

without significance.
Length of Pelvis

The summary of data showing the changes in relative length of pelvis
is given in Table 13. Measurements of length of pelvis were not made
on the 1921 steers. .

The general change is distinctly negative although three groups are
faintly positive and there is a very great variation in the size of the
different group averages.

Heterogeneity is very marked, Z being nearly four times as large as
it is at the point for which the probability of homogeneity falls below
.05. Some of this appears due to influences operating on all the groups
fed at the same time. Thus all six groups fed the last season have
rather small changes. This falls far short of explaining all the
heterogeneity, however, as the different 1922 groups and also the differ-
ent 1925 groups differed Widely from each other. The unreliability of
the individual measurements is not a satisfactory explanation of
this heterogeneity, for the standard deviation is rather small and the
measurement seems to have been a rather accurate one.

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 31

Table 13. Summary of Changes in Relative Length of Pelvis during Fattening.
Number of _ Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 -—4.3 2.8

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 + .2 3,3

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ——3.1 2.3

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —-5.8 2.8

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 -—1 .3 2.5

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O -—4. 7 2. 7

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ——3.7 2.2

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 —1.0 1 .1

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ——2.9 1.0

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —— .9 2.5

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 —2.2 1 . 5

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 + .1 1.5

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 17 + . 1 1 .7

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 -— .7 1.3
SMSGroundheads................. 10 —1.5 1.7
SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 — .3 1.1
SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 — .4 1.5
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ——1 .85 =|;.11 2.09
There 1s no good evidence of a breed difference, for, While the Here-
fords show the greater decrease, a difference that large 0r larger might

be expected by chance alone ‘to occur 46 times out of a hundred‘. The
greater droopiness of theBrahman rumps may have led to a greater-
error in taking this measurement 0n them but there is no apparent
reason Why that error should have been consistently biased in one direc—-
tion on one group of Brahmans and in the other direction on other

groups of Brahmans.

Length of Body

The summary of data showing the changes in relative length of body

is given in Table 14.

Table 14. Summary of Changes in Relative Length of Body during Fattening.
Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 13 —7.9 4.1

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1O ——2 .4 2 .3

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —7.5 3.6

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 -—5.2 2.4

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 -—2.8 2.4

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —6.9 3 .4

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —6.6 3.6

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O -—8.2 3.0

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ——4.4 2.5

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ——6.2 2.7

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O ——2.5 2.5

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —-4. 1 4.2

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 —-1 .6 1.2

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 + .2 2.6

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 -— .0 3.3

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 + .3 2.5

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —2.3 3.1

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + .2 3.5

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 -—1 .0 3.3

Tot_al . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —-3.53 :l:. 16 3.15

I32 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

The change is very distinctly negative in all except the six lots fed
the last season. In three of those it is actually positive although very
slight. The generally slight change in the last six groups is doubtless
largely due to the facts that those steers Were quite young and also made
relatively smaller gains than most of the other groups. It seems safe
to conclude that as a general rule body length increases during fattening
at a distinctly slower rate than weight does.

The evidence for heterogeneity is quite convincing, Z being more than
four times as large as it is at the limit at which the probability of
homogeneity falls below .05. This is not all due to the slight changes
of the six groups fed during the last year. The remarkable difference
between the two 1921 groups and that between the comparable 1924
groups are probably too great to be explained as errors of random
sampling from a single homogeneous population. Whatever may be the
causes, this group heterogeneity is very evident.

There is no good evidence for a breed difference. The Herefords
show a little greater decrease but the probability of a difference this
large or larger occurring as a matter of chance alone is .53 and therefore
the observed difference is without significance.

There is a slight general tendency for the older groups of cattle to
show the greater decreases but the statistical significance of this is very
doubtful.

Measurements of body length are subject to considerable inaccuracy
»on account of changes in the animaPs position. Not only does the posi-
tion of the front feet affect this measurement on account of carrying
the shoulder point forward or backward, but the humping or swaying
-of the back and the position of the pelvis in connection with the bending
~of the back or with the position of the hind feet also affects the measure-
ment of body length greatly. With animals as wild as some of these
(especially the Brahmans) were, the inevitable failure to get the animals
posed in exactly comparable positions at all times may have been respon-
sible for very much of the variation in results. Theoretically this meas-
‘urement should be one of the most reliable indications of general animal
size, and probably it will be found more useful for well-trained and gentle
animals than these figures indicate.

Cannon Circumference

The summary of data showing the changes in relative cannon circum-
‘ference is given in Table 15. Cannon circumference was measured at
both the beginning and end of the feeding period in only one feeding
season. This measurement had been included in the original plan of
the experiment as an indicator of that characteristic known to practical
cattlemen as “size of bone.” It was seen at once that the change was
certain to be negative but that ycannon size, unlike wither height and
some other measurements, might be affected by the increasing weight of
the animal. The cannon bones might require to be larger to support
the increases in body weight caused by increasing fatness. For this

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 331

reason it Was felt certain that relative cannon circumference would prove-

to be intermediate in changes during fattening between wither height

and the measurements more directly dependent upon body size. Accord--

ingly, observations were not taken on it at later feeding trials.

Table 15. Summary of Changes in Relative Cannon Circumference during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1922 Herefords . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ——6.6 2.1

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ——6.7 1.1

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —3.5 1.7

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —7.2 1.8

1923 Purchased Brahmans. . . . . . . . . . . 5 ———5. 1 1 .6

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .' . . . . . . . . . . 42

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —5 .74 +. 19 1.78

The changes are all negative and strongly so. The five groups are not
a homogeneous population, Z being nearly twice as large as it is at the’
limit beyond Which the probability of homogeneity falls below .05, but
this lack of homogeneity is due almost entirely to the 1923 Herefords,
which, like the 1922 steers, Were measured initially two months before
the intensive fattening began but were younger and still growing rapidly
in skeleton. The 1923 Brahmans included in their feeding period all
of the period of intensive fattening but only about two-thirds of the
period of skeletal growth included in the period between measurements
for the 1923 Herefords. This will largely or entirely explain the
greater decrease of the Brahmans. The greater decrease of the Station-
bred Brahmans as compared to the purchased Brahmans is very likely
to have all resulted from the distinctly greater gains made by the Station-
bred animals. In short all the observed group heterogeneity is easily
explained as resulting from definitely known circumstances connected‘
with the feeding. Changes in relative cannon circumference may be
expected to be approximately the same in cattle of the same age which»
gain at the same rate. There is no evidence here of a breed difference...

Width at Pin Bones

The summary of data showing the changes in relative width at pin’
bones is given in Table 16. This measurement, like the preceding one,
was taken on both thin and fat steers during only one feeding season.
Our first experience with it on fat steers indicated to us that we could‘
not take it with any reasonable degree of accuracy on fat steers and,
after this was verified the following season, this measurement was hence-
forth omitted from studies of fat steers although retained for the studies“
of growth and for breed comparisons on relatively thin animals.

The changes are distinctly negative, which is rather to be expected’

when it is remembered that the ends of the caliper were pressed in very"

firmly against the bone. The group heterogeneity is probably sig-

34 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

nificant, Z being about one and a half times as large as it is at the limit
for which the probability of homogeneity falls below .05.

Table 16. Summary of Changes in Relative Width at Pin Bones during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ——2.2 5.9

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 8 —7 .2 3.8

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ——2.9 5.8

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——9.5 7.4

I 1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——16.2 9.9

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . — 5.85 1.70 6.76

There is a faint indication of a breed difference, the Brahmans show-
ing the greater relative decrease. However, this need not be considered
other than accidental because the 1923 Brahmans and Herefords are
not entirely comparable since the period between the thin and the fat
measurements was not the same for both groups. Even if we regard
these two lots as strictly comparable, a difference at least as large as the
observed one might be caused by chance alone as often as 8 or 9 times
out of a hundred. Therefore, it is not necessary to regard the observed
breed difference as other than accidental.

The inherent inaccuracy in this measurement arises from the fact
that the contour of the fat steer is very rounded at this point and width
decreases rapidly from front to rear. Therefore, external measurements
with the caliper barely resting against the skin are not reliable because
it is almost impossible to locate exactly corresponding points on different
animals and a slight deviation in locating the proper points would
make a very large deviation in the observed measurement. Now if the
calipers are pressed very firmly against the flesh just lateral to the pin
bones, the measurement can be fairly accurate on thin steers or on dairy
cows. But if the animals are very fat the flesh is very much thickened
here, not only laterally but also to the rear. This makes it exceedingly
difficult to press the caliper points against the flesh at corresponding
places and with the same degree of pressure on different fat steers. It
is the author’s opinion that this measurement is practically useless in
studies on fat steers unless some much more accurate way of taking it
can be devised.

Muzzle Circumference

The summary of data showing the changes in relative muzzle circum-
ference is given in Table 17. This measurement was taken on both
the thin and the fat steers during only two feeding seasons. The first
data showed that the actual measurement increased only slightly with
fatness and yet was not as free from the influence of fatness as other
measurements like length and width of head or height over withers or
height over hips. As muzzle circumference was less important from

 

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 35

several points of view than these last-named measurements, it was
dropped from the plans after the second feeding season.

Table 17. Summary of Changes in Relative Muzzle Circumference during Fattening.
Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . .» _ . . . . . . . . . . 13 —9.1 2.5

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ——6.7 3.6

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ——7.7 3.4

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 .0 1.4

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ———6.7 1.8

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 -—5.7 3.3

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —4.0 2.2

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —6 79 5:23 2.79

The changes are all negative and distinctly so. The groups were
heterogeneous but not extremely so, Z being about one and a half times
as large as it is at the limit at which the probability of homogeneity
falls below .05. The very large decrease shown by the 1921 Herefords
is probably enough by itself to account for the significant group
heterogeneity.

There is some indication of a breed difference, the Herefords showing
the greater decrease in all three comparisons. However, the probability
that this could be due to chance alone is about .09 and therefore it need
not be regarded as significant. If there is a real difference in this
respect it is probably caused by the smaller tongue and smaller lower
jaw of the Brahman, which make its muzzle circumference rather
smooth in outline even when the steer is thin and lead to the result that
any deposition of fat which may occur in this region must necessarily
increase the circumference of the already smooth and rounded Brahman
muzzle more than the same amount of fat would increase the squarer
and more angular Hereford muzzle. These statements in regard to the
smaller size of the Brahman tongue and lower jaw are based partly upon
extensive observation and partly upon slaughter data (as yet unpub-
lished) from these and some three hundred other steers.

It seems safe to conclude from these data that muzzle circumference
is slightly influenced by the deposition of fat but very much less so
than the circumferences of the body or than most of the other measure-
ments of the body itself.

Height Over Withers

The summary of the data showing the changes in relative height
over withers is given in Table 18. As this is the most widely used
single measurement in studies of cattle, it was studied on all the cattle
in this experiment even though it very quickly became evident that
wither height was scarcely influenced at all by the deposition of fat.

The changes are all negative and very distinctly so. The nineteen
groups as a whole are distinctly heterogeneous, Z being nearly four

 times as large as it is at the limit for which the probability of homo-

36 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

geneity falls below .05. However, observation of Table 18 shows that
this is almost entirely caused by age and feeding season. Thus all the
last six groups show very nearly the same change. So do the 1925
steers, the 1924 steers, the 1922 steers, and the 1921 steers. The 1923
Station-bred Brahmans are the only steers which show a change very
different from that of the other groups of the same age which were fed
at the same time. Even this deviation is not extreme and can probably
be regarded as an error of sampling since there were only five steers in
the group. Thus it seems that, as regards height at withers, all steers
of the same age and fattened and measured under similar external con-
ditions react in very nearly the same Way. This measurement thus
should be fully as applicable to all sorts of steers under comparable con-
ditions as any of the other measurements thus far discussed. This con-~
clusion is in agreement with the Widespread use of this measurement in.
growth studies of cattle generally.

Table 18. Summary of Changes in Relative Height over Withers during Fattening.

Number 0f Standard
Group . Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 13 —-8.9 2,5

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ——9.3 3,7

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 . -—7. 1 2,5

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ——6.4 1,6

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —-5.6 2.0

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —3. 1 1.0

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —6.3 1.3

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —7. 1 2.2

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —7.5 2.5

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 —7.5 2.1

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O -—6. 1 1.8

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —4.7 3.3

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . .‘ . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 —5.5 3.7

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 -—4.2 1 _ 7

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 —3.6 4.6

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 -—3 . 1 1 . 1

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —~3.2 1.4

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O ——4.0 2.4

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 -——3.1 1.8

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -~5.68 i. 12 2.41

The Herefords show a larger relative decrease than the Brahmans do,
but a difference this large or larger might occur due to chance alone
about 18 times out of 100 and therefore need not be considered as
significant. Moreover, the slightly larger gains made by the Herefords"
would cause them to show a little larger decrease even if everything else
were equal. Therefore, no significance whatever can be attached to’
the observed breed difference.

Length of Head

The summary of the data showing the changes in relative length of
head is given in Table 19. This measurement was taken only during
the first two seasons. It quickly became apparent that the relative
decrease would be large and yet the measurement did not involve a part

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 37

of the body which Was intrinsically important itself from the standpoint
of the amount or distribution of the meat 0n the body. Therefore,
measurements of head length on fat steers were discontinued after the
second feeding season.

Table 19. Summary of Changes in Relative Length of Head during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —8.6 1.7

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —7.4 1.5

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 -——8.2 1.6

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ——7.3 1.3

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —5.8 2.7

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —5.6 .9
1923 Purchased Brahmans. . . . . . . . .. 5 -—~5.6 2.4
Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ——7 25 ;l;.15 1 82

The changes are distinctly negative. The groups are heterogeneous, Z
being more than one and one-half times as large as it is at the limit for
which the probability of homogeneity falls below .05. However, the
larger decreases are shown by the older groups or by the groups making
the larger gains in each feeding season and the effect of those two factors
is probably sufficient to explain all group heterogeneity. The Herefords
show the larger decrease but this also corresponds to the greater gain
made by the Herefords and was therefore to have been expected. More-
over, the observed breed difference was not statistically significant as it
would be expected about 15 times out of 100 just as a matter of chance
alone.

It may be concluded that head length is a process of normal growth
which proceeds at a rate governed largely by age and influenced almost
not at all by whether or not the nutritional state of the animal is such
as to permit the deposition of fat at a rapid rate. In young animals
head length is increasing faster but fat deposition takes place more
slowly than in older ones. Consequently head length relative to weight
decreases more rapidly during the fattening of older than of younger
animals and more rapidly in animals which make large gains than in
those which make small gains.

Height Over Hips

The summary of the data showing the changes in relative height over
hips is given in Table 20. This measurement was not taken during the
third feeding season as we had come to the conclusion that it practically
duplicated the measurement of height over withers, height over hips
being larger, by an almost constant amount. Since height over withers
was so much more universally used we planned to concentrate on that
and to omit height over hips. ' However, observations during the third
feeding season and in the studies on the breeding herd at the same time
raised the question as to whether, with cattle as wild and as difficult to

38 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

pose as these, height over Withers was as accurate a measurement and as
little influenced by changes in the animal’s position as height over hips.
Largely for this reason height over hips was included again in the work
of the fourth feeding season. The results seem to show that height at
hips is even more unaffected by fat deposition than height at withers
is but that the two measurements are almost equally variable, the
standard deviations of the percentage change being almost identical
(2.39 per cent and 2.41 per cent) when both are corrected for group
heterogeneity. The greater decrease shown by height at hips arises
mostly from differences between the younger groups of cattle. While
height at hips shows the greater decrease even in the first seven groups, a
difference that large or larger in either direction might be expected due
to chance alone about 30 times out of 100. This difference, therefore,
need not be considered as significant. During the last feeding season,
when cattle from one to two years younger than those in the first seven
groups were fed, height over hips showed a decrease so much greater
than that shown by height over withers that there is less than one chance
in fifty that it could have occurred by chance alone. It is therefore
statistically significant. Other studies, such as those of Hansen(7) and
Brody(1), have shown that height over hips is larger relative to height
over withers in young calves than in older ones, the two measurements-
tending more nearly toward equality as maturity is approached. In
other words, during normal growth height over withers increases more
than height at hips does. This probably furnishes a complete explana-
tion of the observed difference between the relative changes shown by
height over withers and height at hips. The former approaches its
mature condition at a later age than height at hips docs and thereby
reflects on a more magnified scale the changes which accompany normal
growth. Aside from this it is not certain that there is any difference in
the changes of the two measurements relative to weight with increasing
fatness. However, for reasons based on anatomy one might expect

» height over withers to increase more with fatness because, (1) more fat
_ is deposited immediately over the Withers than immediately over the hips,

(2) increasing fat deposits might very well tighten and shorten the
muscles which support the chest from the shoulder blades and thus raise-
the fore part of the body,  the increasing weight which comes with
age and fatness would probably have a greater tendency to draw the hips
down by altering the normal angle of the pelvis with the ground than it
would to lower the withers by altering the normal angles of any of the
joints in the forelegs. This last effect is often seen in mature cows
which are in well-advanced stages of pregnancy. For these reasons
relative height at hips reflects the changes of body shape with increasing
fatness slightly more accurately and to a more extreme degree than
height over withers does. On the other hand, the difference in this
respect is certainly small and height over withers is much more widely
used and is a better indicator of normal growth without fattening on
account of its later approach to its mature dimensions. Our data seem

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 39

to show little to choose between them from the standpoint of accuracy
although from observation we had expected height at hips t0 be more
accurate on steers which were wild and hard t0 pose and often persisted
in pulling back against the stanchion or halter, as many of these did.
On the dairy cows height over withers proved to be slightly more accurate
than height over hips.

Table 20. Summary of Changes in Relative Height over Hips during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ——9.3 3.8

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —~8.0 4.0

1922 I-Ierefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ——8.3 1.8

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ——5.8 1.5

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . r . . . 10 —7.0 1.7

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —7.5 .8

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——6.0 2.4

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . r . . 13 ——-6.4 1.3

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 ——5.4 2.3

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ——7 . 1 1.9

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —-6.1 2.5

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O ——4.5 2.1

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ 9 ——4.3 1.2

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ——6.64 1.14 2.39

The observed changes are all distinctly negative. Group heterogeneity
is unmistakable, Z being more than twice as large as it is at the limit at
which the probability of homogeneity falls below .05. This group
heterogeneity seems to be fully explainable as caused by the younger
groups still growing more in height at hips than the older groups and
of course between groups of the same age there is a general tendency
for the group making the larger gain to show the greater percentage
decrease relative to weight. .

The Herefords show the greater decrease but a difference this large or
larger would be expected by chance alone about 19 times out of 100.
Morover, the fact that the Herefords made larger gains would naturally
lead to a larger percentage decrease in this relative measurement on them.-
There is, therefore, no reason to think that a breed difference exists in
the reaction of the steers with regard to this measurement during

fattening.
Width at Eyes

The summary of the data showing the changes in relative width at
eyes is given in Table 21. This measurement was not taken after the
first two feeding seasons as it was evident that the relative measurement

would show an extreme decrease and yet this measurement was notw __

directly related to any part of the body on which fatgyvas being deposited
to any noticeable extent or which was important from the standpoint of
the meat on it.

The changes are all very distinctly negative. Group heterogeneity is
evident, Z being more than one and one-half times as large as it is at
the limit at which the probability of homogeneity falls below .05. This

4O BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

group heterogeneity is very largely a reflection of differences in the
gains made by the different groups, the change being less in the case of
the group making the smaller gain in every comparable case except that
of the 1922 steers.

Table 21. Summary of Changes in Relative Width at Eyes during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —10.4 1.9

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —— 9.2 2.0

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —- 8.8 1.9

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . -— 9.7 1.9

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —- 8.0 1.4

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —— 7.0 2.4

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . .  . . 5 — 6.7 1.6

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -— 8 88d: 16 1.86

The Herefords show the larger decrease but the observed decrease is»
actually less than might have been expected as due to chance alone and
therefore is quite Without significance.

Neither length of head nor Width at eyes is a very useful measurement.
in estimating the fatness of a steer. The head dimensions approach
their mature size at an earlier age than any other dimensions. They
are probably quite subject to individual variations,—at least We fre-
quently see steers which are of the same age and of the same general’
kind of breeding but which difier markedly in the Width or length of
their heads. These measurements are markedly influenced by sex-condi-
tion, the Width especially being very much increased in bulls. Finally
they do not directly measure a part of the body which is itself econom-
ically important in meat production. Their changes during fattening
are of a passive or negative nature. Because they have nearly reached‘
their own mature dimensions and do not reflect fat deposition at all,
they decrease relative to body Weight very rapidly during fattening, such’
decreases being as a rule largest in the animals which make the largest
gains and least in the animals which make the least gains.

These objections to head measurements as indicators of fatness, either
by themselves or relative to some other measurement or to Weight, do
not of course preclude the possibility that they may be quite useful in
other Ways. Thus if it is true, as is Widely supposed, that a short Wide
head is correlated with a short Wide body and With the ability to make
large and economical gains, then head measurements might be very
useful in closer studies of that fact and its applications.

DISCUSSION OF MEASUREMENTS RELATIVE TO WEIGHT

Steers which were of the same breeding and were fed, Weighed, and
measured under the same external conditions changed their relative
measurements during fattening at rates which were far from uniform
for any one measurement. The Weighted average standard deviation

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 41

given at the bottom of each summary table is the best measure we were
able to devise for that lack of uniformity. It is the standard deviation
corrected for group heterogeneity as used by Richey and Willier(15)
except that in this case it is also corrected for the loss of degrees of free-
dom which takes place in correcting for group heterogeneity. Those
standard deviations, arranged in the order of their magnitude, are
repeated here:

Cannon Circumference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.78

Length of Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.82

Width at Eyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..1.86

Heart Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1.92

Length of Pelvis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..2.09

Depth 0f Chest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.13

Height over Hips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.39

Height over Withers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.41

Width at Hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..2.41

Pelvis Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.73

Muzzle Circumference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.79

Flank Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.88

Paunch Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2.97

Length 0f Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3.15

Loin Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4.39

Width at Pin Bones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..6.76

Chest Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8.20

It will be noticed that the increases are very gradual until the last
three measurements are reached. Those three are very distinctly more
variable than the others. There are three distinct sources of the varia-
tion which is summed up in these standard deviations. In the first place
there is the error in taking the measurement itself. In the second place
some steers gained a smaller amount than other steers in the same lot
and this would cause some variation in the percentage increase or de-
crease in the relative measurement. In the third place two steers gain-
ing the same amount may not have put the gain on the same parts of
the body. For instance, one might increase more in paunch girth and
less in heart girth than another steer in the same lot and gain the same
amount. In other words, the change in shape during fattening may
really be different in different steers. It is this third source of variation
in which we are interested and about which we wish to know. The
second source of variation should be of almost equal importance in the
case of all the different measurements. Therefore, increased variation
of the changes in one measurement as compared to another must be due
to differences in the first or third sources of variation or both. Much
of it is attributable to the first source,—that is, to difierences between
the true weight or the true measurement and the observed weight or the
observed measurement. If we were justified in assuming that the errors
of measurement were the same for these steers as the figures given in
Table 2, the errors of measurement could be eliminated in a rough way
from these standard deviations. When such an assumption is made the
standard deviations all become less. Muzzle circumference seems to

42 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGHICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

have been taken more accurately on the steers than on the dairy cows.
All the other measurements, except the Widths of chest, loin, and pin
bones, tend t0 approach more closely a uniform standard deviation of
about 2.0 per cent (extremes: Width at eyes 1.3 per cent and paunch
girth 2.7 per cent). The three Widths mentioned remain very dis-
tinctly more variable than any of the other measurements. This can
mean either that the steers really do vary extremely in the way they
change their loin, chest, and pin-bone Widths during fattening or that
the errors in taking these three measurements are very much greater
on fat steers than they Were on the dairy cows. On the basis of our
observations We are inclined to believe that the latter explanation is the
more important, although it seems quite likely that the steers really
would vary somewhat more in the Way they changed their shape in these
three’ measurements which directly reflect increases in fatness than they
would in measurements of parts which are much more muscular or
skeletal in nature.

The various measurements which Were taken on all nineteen lots of
cattle rank as follows in the average percentage change which they made
during the fattening process :

Chest Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 9.29

Loin Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 5.18

Heart Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 1.55

Flank Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. + .97

Paunch Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..—— .35

Depth of Chest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —- 1.95

Length of Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -— 3.53

Height over Withers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~—5.68

The average changes in the nine measurements Which were not studied
on all nineteen groups rank as follows when compared with the other
measurements on corresponding groups:

1. Width at hooks is almost equal to flank girth

2. Pelvis width is almost equal to paunch girth

3. Length of pelvis is practically equal to depth of chest

4 and 5. Cannon circumference and width at pin bones make
practically the same change as length of body

Muzzle circumference decreases almost as much as height
over withers

Length of head decreases more than height over withers
and almost as much as height over hips

Height over hips decreases more than height over withers,
especially where younger groups of cattle are concerned

Width at eyes shows the most extreme decrease of all, a
decrease which would have averaged nearly 7.8% if it
had been taken on all the groups and had maintained the
same ratio to height over withers as it did in the groups
on which it was taken.

P???‘

In general, we may say that measurements of uzidth increased dis-
tinctly, particularly those involving the Width of soft fleshy parts. Ex-
cept for the almost totally unreliable width at pin bones, width at eyes

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 43

was the only Width which decreased at all relative to Weight and it was
almost purely a skeletal measurement. Measurements of girth 0r cir-
cumference made a moderate increase if they involved soft fleshy parts
of the body and a moderate decrease relative to weight if they involved
only non-fleshy parts, such as the muzzle 0r cannon bone. Measurements
of length decreased relative to Weight Without exception but the decrease
was smaller for lengths involving the main part of the body such as pelvis
length and chest depth and body length than it Was for the lengths
which were more purely skeletal, such as head length and height over
hips or Withers. In general, the soft fleshy parts of the body increased
very greatly in absolute measurements While the skeletal parts grew
slowly and thus decreased relative to Weight. Of the various skeletal
parts, the head grew the most slowly With the leg bones next. iThe
pelvis showed a surprisingly large growth relative to other skeletal parts.
Except for the loin and flank the various cuts of the hind quarters
seemed to enlarge during fattening much less than most of the cuts of
the fore quarters. This seems to emphasize a point which is frequently
misunderstood about the fattening of cattle. The object of fattening is
much less a matter of increasing the proportion of the desirable cuts in
the carcass (if indeed that proportion is actually increased by fattening)
than it is to improve the grade and market desirability of the whole
carcass and to increase the proportion of carcass to live weight. '

Evidence for a breed difference in the changes in body shape during
fattening appears to be strong only in the case of flank girth and paunch
girth. In both flank girth and paunch girth the Herefords increased
the most or decreased the least and the difference was large enough and
consistent enough to be at least on the borderline of statistical sig-
nificance. Both these differences also agree with the visual impressions
one gets of these animals and with slaughter data; namely, that the
Herefords develop much larger middles than the Brahmans during heavy
feeding but are less well developed in the flanks when thin. However,
neither of these breed differences is nearly distinct enough to permit a
steer to be identified objectively as Brahman or Hereford from the
records of his change during fattening. Therefore, it would be exceed-
ingly difficult, if not absolutely impossible to study the inheritance of
differences in the rate of change of flank or paunch girth during
fattening. '

In not a single one of the seventeen measurements was the population
homogeneous With respect to the average change shown by the different
groups. However, in most of the measurements the observed het-
erogeneity is to be explained as entirely due to the groups of steers being
of different ages and making different total gains. In flank and paunch
girth, breed differences contribute to group heterogeneity. In several
measurements no explanation is offered for the unusually large or un-
usually small changes made by certain groups. The 1923 purchased
Brahmans differed greatly from the other groups in several cases. They
Were also visibly quite different in the Way they changed during the

~44 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

fattening period. They gained a rather small amount and tended to
_grow rather than to fatten. Whether this Was due to their different
early environment, to individual heritable peculiarities of their imme-
idiate ancestors, or to some other cause is not known.

RATIOS OF ONE MEASUREMENT TO ANOTHER

The usefulness of ratios of measurements to the cube roots of the
weights in estimating fatness is quite limited, according to the results
~of this investigation. Measurements of soft parts which would reflect
the degree of fatness were quite inaccurate. This was particularly true
in the case of chest width. On the other hand the accurate measure-
ments for the most part either increased at the same rate as the cube
root of weight did or increased much more slowly and thereby only
reflected increasing fatness in a negative way by decreasing relative to
weight. Since the fat steer is clearly less tall and less long but more
wide in proportion to weight than the thin one, it seemed reasonable to
suppose that if one desired merely an objective indicator of fatness a
more reliable indicator might be found in the ratios of a measurement
of height or length to a measurement of width than in a ratio involving
weight. Eight such ratios, which seemed promising on the basis of
"what the Weight ratios had shown, were studied. They were the three
ratios of chest width to chest depth, to heart girth, and to height over
withers; the three ratios of loin width to chest depth, to heart girth, and
to height over withers; and the two ratios of heart girth to chest depth
and to height over withers.

The summary of the data showing the changes in the ratio of chest
width to heart girth is given in Table 22.

Table 22. Summary of Changes in Chest Width Relative to Heart Girth during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 13 +10.0 5.9

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +12.2 13.3

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +13. 1 7. 1

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 +14.1 10.2

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + 6.5 8.2

_1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 +11 .8 7.2

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 — 1.6 6.9

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +16.0 8.5

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + 1.6 4.9

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + 6.3 .5

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + 6.2 4.5

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + 7.5 6.3

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + 4.7 8.8

1926 Herefords . . . . . .f . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 + 7.1 7.1

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 + 9.7 9.4

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 +11.5 4.4

.SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + .9 3.9

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —— 1.2 7.3

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + 3.7 6.0

Tot_al . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +7.58 1.37% 7 49%

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 45‘

The change is positive in all but two groups and the average change»
is large. However, the standard deviation is also 1arge—so large as to,
preclude the practical use of changes in this ratio as indicators of changes
in the fatness of individual animals. Group heterogeneity is quite evi--
dent, Z being nearly three times as large as it is at the limit beyond
which the probability of homogeneity falls below .05.

The summary of the data showing the changes in the ratio of chest."
width to chest depth is given in Table 23.

Table 23. Summary of Changes in Chest Width Relative to Chest Depth during Fattening.

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +15.9 6.1

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +18.6 15.7

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +19.8 7.6

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 +20.9 12.6

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  . . 10 -l—10.0 8.8

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 +15.8 8.2

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 + 3.3 8.4

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +23.0 8.3

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + 6.8 5.0

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +11.2 2.7

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + 9.6 5.7

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + 9.6 7.7

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + 6.0 11 .8

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 + 9.8 8.4

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 +12.2 8.9

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 +13.0 2.9

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + 2.6 5.2

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + .4 8.6

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + 4.2 6.6

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +11 .49 1.42% 8 37%

Table 24. Summary of Changes in Chest Width Relative to Height at Withers during Fat-

temng.
Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 -l—24.7 7.4

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O -l—27.6 17.0

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 -l-26.9 9.5

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4—25.8 10.7

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O -—16.4 9.8

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 --16.4 9.3

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —- 7.8 7 .7

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O ——28.6 11 .8

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 --11.2 7.5

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 --17 . 6 2.0

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O --15.0 6.0

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +154 8.9

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 —~10.8 11.6

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —r12.2 8.0

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 —r14.0 11 .9

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —-14.3 4.2

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 -— 3.8 4.5

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 -— 3.3 9.7

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 -- 5.1 8.1

Total... .' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +16.07 1.47% 9 46%

The change is positive in all groups and is large but varies widely in
amount and has a large standard deviation. Group heterogeneity is

46 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT ‘STATION

   
  
  
   
  

very marked. This ratio would be a more useful indicator of fatness
than the preceding one but is still extremely erratic in its apparent i
changes. 1

The summary of the data showing the changes in the ratio of chest
width to height at withers is given in Table 24. .

The changes are all positive and very large. However, group het-i
erogeneity is extreme and variation within the groups is very largeQ
This ratio would be a better indicator of fatness than either of the pre-jl
ceding ones but is even more erratic than they are. I

The summary of the data showing the changes in the ratio of loin g
width to heart girth is given in Table 25. ‘

Table 25. Summary of Changes in Loin Width Relative to Heart Girth during Fattening. 

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 + 4.2 4.7

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 9 + 4.1 7.0

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + 2.0 6.0

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 —~ .3 6.0 é‘-

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + 3.8 4.5 ‘

192s Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 - 3.8 3.5 rj

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 — 4.0 2.4 s

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O + .3 4.2 1.

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —— .7 4.9

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + 1.0 4.6 5

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O —— .4 3.9 1

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 14 + 1.2 3.9

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + 3.5 2.6 

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 + 8.7 3.6

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 17 + 6.4 4.6 ,

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 + 6.5 4.8 f;

‘SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +10.2 4.5 

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + 9.0 2.6 

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + 9.4 3.2 j

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 _ ~'

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 3.64 1.23% 4.55% i.

Table 26. Summary 0f Changes in Loin Width Relative to Chest Depth during Fattening.‘

Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 + 9.9 5.1 N

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + 9.7 7.5 i.

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + 8.0 6.1 _

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 + 5.5 5.8 ';

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + 7.2 4.8 3

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 -— .4 4.4

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 + .7 4.6

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O + 6.3 4.4

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + 4.4 5.4

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + 5.7 5.2

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 + 2.8 3.6

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 + 3.0 3.6

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 + 4. 6 3. 7

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ 13 +11.4 4.1

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 + 9.0 6.6

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 + 7.8 4.8

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +11 .8 4.5

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +10.8 1.9

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + 9.8 2.0

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 7.27 1.25% 4.94%

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 47

The changes are predominantly positive but are negative in five
groups. The average change is small and the coefficient of variation is
large. Group heterogeneity is very evident. These results seem t0
show that this ratio is not a highly accurate expression of fatness.

The summary of the data showing the changes in the ratio of loin
width to chest depth is given in Table 26.

Except for one group all average changes are positive and fairly large,
especially in comparison with the standard deviation. This ratio is dis-
tinctly superior to the previous one as an indicator of fatness but still
admits of very wide variation between individual steers. Group het-
erogeneity is unmistakable.

The summary of the data showing the changes in the ratio of loin
width to height at withers is given in Table 27.

Table 27. Summary of Changes in Loin Width Relative to Height at Withers during Fat-

temng.
Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 13 —-18.3 6.7

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 -—18.4 9.7

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 --14.4 8.0

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 --10.0 6.7

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —~13.3 6.0

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 —— . 1 2. 1

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 —— 5. 1 3.2

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O ——11 . 1 6.6

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 -— 8.6 5.2

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +11 .8 6.6

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 -- 7.9 4.0

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 -- 8.4 4.5

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 -- 9.4 2.5

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 ~—l3.8 4.8

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 --10.4 5.6

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 -- 9. 1 4.6

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O ~-13.3 5. 1

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 443.9 4.0

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 ——10.9 3.6

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +11.57 51.29% 5 74%

The change is positive for all groups and the average change is quite
large. However, the variation is fairly large and group heterogeneity is
very evident. As an indicator of fatness this ratio is evidently superior
to the other two ratios involving loin width but exhibits an even larger
standard deviation of individual changes.

The summary of the data showing the changes in the ratio of heart
girth to chest depth is given in Table 28.

The average change is positive in all groups but is small. The
standard deviation is quite small, which is probably a result of the fact
that the two measurements concerned are among the most accurate taken
and are but slightly affected by the animal’s position. Heterogeneity
of the groups is quite evident but this is very largely caused by the last
nine groups of cattle, which were younger than the rest and which made
considerable growth in chest depth during the fattening period. On
account of the smallness of the average change this ratio does not seem

48

to be a highly useful indicator of fatness even thou

BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

gh its variation is

small.
Table 28. Summary of Changes in Heart Girth Relative t0 Chest Depth during Fattening
Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +5.5 2.8

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +5.6 3.5

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +6.0 2.2

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 ——5.8 1.8

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +3.2 1 .7

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 +3.6 3.5

1923 Purchased Brahmans. . . . . . . . . . 5 +4.9 2.9

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 +6.0 2.1

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +5.1 1.4

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +4 . 7 2.9

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +3.2 2.4

1925 Brahmans. .' . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 14 +1.9 2.4

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . <1 ——1 . 1 3 . 3

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +2.5 1 .9

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 +2.4 2.3

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 +1 .3 2. 1

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10 +1.5 1.3

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1O +1.7 2.0

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + .5 1.7

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . +3. 58 1.11% 2 . 30%

The summary of tl1e data showing the changes in the ratio of heart
girth to height at Withers is given in 'llahle 29.

Table 29. Summary of Changes in Heart Girth Relative to Ileight at Withers during
, Fattening.
Number of Standard
Group Steers Included Average Change Deviation
1921 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 +13.5 4.1

1921 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10 +136 5.4

1922 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 +122 3.6

1922 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 —-1().4 3.6

1923 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —— 9.2 2.4

1923 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 ~— 4.1 2.8

1923 Purchased Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . 5 + 9.5 1.6

1924 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 -—10.8 4.2

1924 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —- 9.3 

1924 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 +10.7 2.0

1925 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 —— 8.3 2.0

1925 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 —1— 7.2 4.3

1925 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 -— 5.8 4.7

1926 Herefords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 —— 4.7 2.0

1926 Brahmans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 —— 3.8 3.9

1926 Back-crosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 + 2. 5 1.5

SMS Ground heads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10 -— 2.8 1.2

SMS Ground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 ~— 4.5 3.4

SMS Unground ration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 + 1.4 2.4

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Weighted average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 7.77 +17% 3.42%

The average change is positive for every group. The change is
medium in size, being exceeded by the change in two of the three ratios
involving chest Width and one of the ratios involving loin Width. y
ever, the standard deviation of this change is very distinctly smaller
than that for the three ratios Which shoW larger average changes. The

How-

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 49

change in the ratio of heart girth to height at withers shows extreme
group heterogeneity, which seems to be caused by age and conditions
peculiar to each feeding season. Thus all six groups fed during the last
season show moderate changes and, in both the second and the third
ftieding seasons, the three younger groups show smaller changes than
the older groups fed at the same time.

CORRELATION BETWEEN RATIOS AND ESTIMATED FATNESS

To test further which of these ratios was most closely related to fatness,
the fatness of each individual steer Was estimated on the basis of its
(lressing per cent and its percentage of caul fat to final feedlot live
weight by using the prediction equation developed in an earlier
study'(11) (estimated % of fat in entirelive animal: 9.073 times
per cent of caul fat —l—j 0.936 times dressing per cent—44.96%). This
estimated fatness was then correlated with each of the eight ratios just
(liscussed, using the measurements taken just before the fattened steers
were shipped to market. Each correlation was calculated separately for
each group of steers (so as to eliminate heterogeneity of group means)
and then all correlations between estimated fatness and each ratio were
averaged together using the method described by Fisher on pages 168
and 169 of his book(6). The first two groups of steers had to be
omitted from this calculation because individual caul fat weights were
not obtained when they were slaughtered. Three degrees of freedom
were lost for each group of steers in the process of averaging and the
resulting average correlations are the statistical equivalent of a single
correlation calculated upon a single group of 113 steers, except that this
average being based upon different groups, fed at different times and in
different ways, is probably more reliable as a basis for generalization
because unnoticed differences in the methods of taking the measurements
or other unsuspected and accidental conditions which might influence
the size of the correlation in a single group or for a single season, would
not be apt to affect these average correlations noticeably.

These correlation coefficients between estimated fatness and each of
these eight ratios, together with the rank of the changes in the ratios
during fattening according to mean size, to standard deviation, and to
mean size divided by standard deviation are given in Table 30.

Even a casual study of Table 30 shows that the last four ratios have
little claim to further serious consideration as indicators of fatness.
They rank low in all three aspects of the change during the fattening
process. All four correlations are low, the last one being only a little
larger than its probable error, and the two next to the last ones being
only a little more than three times their probable errors. In a statis-
tical sense the correlation between estimated fatness and the chest
width—chest depth ratio is probably significant since it differs from
zero by about three times its standard deviation. Nevertheless, this
correlation is small and therefore not of much practical use even though

5O BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

it does indicate that, as a general rule, a wide chest relative to chest
depth is associated with a high degree of fatness.

Table 30. Summary of Average Data Bearing upon the Usefulness of Eight Measurement
Ratios as Indicators of Fatness.

Correlation Rank Accord- Rank Accord- Rank Accord-
_ between Final ing to large ing to Small- ing to Largeness
Ratio Ratio and Es- Average ness of Devia- of Ratio:
timated Fatness Change Dur- tion of Change Average Change
Fattening During to Standard
Fattening Deviation

Heart Girth: _

Height at Withers. . . . . + .563 4 2 1
Heart Girth:

Chest Depth . . . . . . . . . . + .464 8 1 4
Chest Width: _

Height at Withers . . . . . +.414 1 '8 3
Loin Width:

Hei th at Withers. . . . . + .323 2 5 2
Chest idth:

Chest Depth . . . . . . . . . . + .294 3 7 6
Loin Width:

Chest Depth . . . . . . . . . . +226 6 4 5
Chest Width:

Heart Girth . . . . . . . . . . +207 5 6 7
Loin Width: _

Heart Girth . . . . . . . . . . + .076 7 3 8

The ratios involving chest Width as compared with the corresponding
ratios involving loin width show (1) higher correlations, (2) larger
average changes, and (3) larger standard deviations of the changes.
This and other circumstances connected with the measuring seems to
indicate that width of chest is more closely related to fatness than width
of loin is, but was not measured quite as accurately. Continuing this
comparison in the same way, it will be noted that the ratios having
heart girth for the numerator as compared to the corresponding ratios
having loin width or chest width as numerators show (1) higher corre-
lations, (2) smaller average changes, (3) smaller standard deviations of
the changes. This is interpreted to mean that chest width responds

“more to fattening than the other two measurements do but is most
‘ difiicult to measure accurately. Heart girth responds less to increasing

fatness thanthe other two measurements but is very much more ac-
curately measured than either of the others.

Turning now to look at the denominators it will be observed that both
ratios having heart girth for a denominator rank at or very near the
bottom of the list in all four columns of Table 29. It seems clear that
heart girth as an indicator of fatness belongs in the group with chest
width and loin width, and not in the group with chest depth and
height at withers. The ratios involving wither height when compared
with the corresponding ratios involving chest depth show in every case
(1) higher correlations, (2) larger average increases during fattening,
and (3) larger standard deviations of the increases. This is interpreted
to mean that wither height is less influenced by increasing fatness (and
also by the normal growth incident to steers of the ages used in these
experiments) than chest depth is, but is more difficult to measure ac-
curately on steers as wild as these.

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 51

GENERAL DISCUSSION

Underlying the question of whether a given body measurement is well
adapted for use in the accurate description of beef cattle, there are three
important questions. The first question is: to what extent does the
measurement reflect increasing fatness, as' distinct from the changes of
normal growth? The second question is: how does the measurement
change with the normal growth incident to cattle of any given age?
The third question is: how accurately can the measurement be taken in
spite of changes in the animal’s position and in the tenseness of its
muscles and in spite of partly unavoidable errors in the technique of

the operator? Not one of the measurements studied in these experi- ,

ments was completely satisfactory in all three of these points.

From most practical points of view the measurements naturally fall p

into two groups: first, those which increase with increasing fatness more
rapidly than weight does and which therefore reflect fatness in a positive
way; and second, those which increase less rapidly than weight does
during fattening and therefore reflect fatness in a negative or passive
way.

Only four of the measurements included in this study belong in the
first group. They are: chest width, loin width, heart girth, and flank
girth. Width at hooks also increased faster than weight did on these
steers, but the evidence indicates strongly that this was caused by the
normal growth of steers as young as many of these were and would not
have occurred in an experiment confined to mature or nearly mature
steers. Of the other four measurements paunch girth seems to have no
advantage over heart girth. Its average increase is less and the un-
avoidable error in its measurement is distinctly greater than in the case
of heart girth. It may therefore very well be dropped from further
consideration. Heart girth is very distinctly more accurate than either
chest width or loin width but on the other hand does not increase nearly
so much during fattening. Unquestionably either chest width or loin
width would be a more useful measurement than heart girth for describ-
ing in objective terms the fatness of a steer if it could‘ be taken as
accurately as heart girth. Can they be taken thus accurately? Unques-
tionably they were not in these data, but most of these steers were wild
and difficult to pose. Also our measuring calipers had rather small
contact surfaces and it seems reasonable to suppose that there would be
less error on the part of the operator if the calipers used had contact
surfaces several square inches in area. This would be of especial im-
portance on very fat steers, which usually have quite soft flesh on the
sides of their chests and loins. It seems to us highly probable that with

gentle steers which could be posed as show steers are, and with calipers I

having very large contact surfaces, the measurements of chest Width
and loin width can be made much more accurate than they were under
the conditions of this study and probably can be made so accurate that
they will be distinctly superior to heart girth as indicators of fatness

52 BULLETIN NO. 3S5, 'I‘E_XAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

even though they can never be measured quite as accurately as heart
girth. Whether 0r not this opinion is fully justified can only be ascer-
tained by further experiments. An increase in the accuracy of the
measurements 0r in the accuracy of the method of estimating fatness
would of course increase the size of the correlations shown in Table
30(18). But if We leave out of consideration the possibility of improv-

ing the accuracy of these measurements it would seem that in these data

heart girth was actually more valuable as an indicator of fatness than
was chest width or loin width. The latter two showed greater increases
during fattening but were more variable and less highly correlated with
estimated fatness than heart girth was. Loin width was probably a little
less valuable than chest width although somewhat more accurately meas-
ured. Doubtless all three of these measurements deserve further con-
sideration as indicators of fatness.

The measurements which reflect fatness only in a passive or negative
way naturally fall into four main groupsrhcad ‘measurements, pelvis
measurements, height measurements, and trunk measurements such as
chest depth and body length. The head measurements are of minor
importance since they do not measure a part of the body directly im-
portant from the standpoint of meat production. Moreover, they are
influenced by sex condition and also dppTOtICll their mature value at -a
very early age. Pelvis measurements increase normally with age at
peculiar rates. Compared with other skeletal measurements, they are
quite slow in approaching their mature values. Here, too, important
sex differences are present. Width at pin bones is highly inaccurate on
real fat steers.

Height at Withers and height at hips appear to duplicate each other
almost exactly except that young cattle are relatively higher over the
hips than at the withers. Wither height increases a little more during
normal growth, also wither height appears to have been a trifle less
accurately measured 011 these steers, so many of which were wild. How-
ever, wither height has been much more widely used in other studies as a
standard to which all other measurements are compared. For this last
reason wither height seems slightly more useful than hip height and,
since the two measurements so nearly duplicate each other, it docs not
seem worth while to include both in future studies. Chest depth is
probably the most accurate of the trunk measurements and is of prac-
tical importance i11 that it measures directly one of the components of
the idea of low-setness or blockiness of form. 1t is only slightly affected
by fatness but is relatively slow to zipproach its mature value. Body
length is relatively inaccurate among the measurements which arc only
slightly affected by fatness, but does measure a very important dimension
of the steer and is an important part of our conception of ranginess of
type as contrasted with blockiness or compactness.

Our conclusion in regard to the general usefulness of the various
measurements is that unless there exists some special reason to investi-
gate some special detail of conformation (such as paunchiness or pelvis

BODY MEASUREMENTS 01*‘ STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 53

sl1ape or relative head width 0r length), the measurements taken should

include one or two or possibly three measurements which reflect to the _

fullest extent the effects of fatness and two or three measurements which
reflect as fully as possible the extent of normal growth free from the
influence of fatness or thinness. In our experience heart girth has been
the most desirable of the measurements which reflect fatness directly,
although we are of the opinion that refinement of the methods of meas-
uring, especially upon very gentle steers, might very easily make chest
width or loin width more desirable for this purpose. In our experience
height over withers and height over hips have been outstandingly the
most desirable measurements which reflect growth independent of fat-
ness. Hip height has perhaps been slightly more desirable than wither
height for this purpose, but out of deference for the more widely estab-
lished custom of expressing other measurements as relative to wither
height we do not believe the advantages of height over hips justify
recommending the use of hip height to the exclusion of wither height.
As a fairly close second to these two in usefulness stands depth of chest.
Body length is a poor third.

The dimension-weight index proposed by Yapp(20) as a general index
of body build in cattle is:

Body Length Height over Withers 2 1

wwéigfi - wmi was

when the component ratios are separated into the forms in which they
were studied in this Bulletin. The third factor is a constant introduced
by Yapp t0 express in cubic centimeters the volume of a pound of flesh
and need not concern us further here where we are interested only i11
variations and changes in these ratios or indices. Since both these
ratios which are combined in Yappis index show negative changes dur-
ing fattening, such a combination of them as in Yapp’s index will show
a still larger negative change during fattening. Thus the average change

 

Body Length
in the ratio, is, among these 185 steers during fattening was
3 \/ Weight _ _
Height over Withers
—3.53% and the average change in the ratio,

9
~°’\/ Weight
was ——5.68%. 'l‘he,re.l'orc, the average change in Yapp’s index would
have been approximately — 14.2% (or possibly a little larger on account
of a correlation between the two ratios). This index would therefore
express the changes on a larger scale and to that extent is desirable,
although its standard deviation would also be somewhat larger than that
of either ratio alone. Some such combination as this is also desirable in
that it embodies more than one measurement and thereby tends to make

54 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

errors of measurement less important. From this point of view, this
index would be still further improved if it included the ratio of one
more measurement, such as chest depth, instead of giving double Weight
to height at withers. Squaring height at withers allows errors in the
measurement of wither height to retain considerable importance. Other
indexes embodying various combinations of measurements will doubt-
less suggest themselves to the reader as worthy of consideration. Cer-
tainly such combinations are more com-plate descriptions of the animal
form than one measurement is, either by itself or relative to Weight.
However, the changes of these combinations cannot be so readily analyzed
as those of the simpler ratios of a single measurement to live weight,
and, therefore, We have confined the analysis in this Bulletin to the
simpler ratios. The index proposed by Yapp is clearly very strongly
influenced by fatness, and yet it probably is also very much influenced
by variations in body shape independent of fatness. There is still a
real need in this connection for an index which shall express only the
fat-free body-build in objective terms as well as for an index which
shall more perfectly serve as an indicator of fatness. _

The question of Whether any measurement is sufficiently informative to
be Worth taking in general feeding experiments remains a debatable one,
and probably depends chiefly upon the cost of taking the measurements
and upon one’s assurance that there would be opportunity to calculate
and analyze the results. In the geometrical sense the animal body is of
such a complicated shape that any one or few measurements could
approximate a description of it in only the crudest way. Moreover, the
details of that shape change with every movement of the muscles of the
body. Furthermore, many of the points which are of considerable im-
portance in determining the commercial worth of a steer are difficult or
impossible to measure. For example, a smooth sleek coat undoubtedly
has its value in the market place but would be impossible to measure
by a tapeline or rule and would be diflicult to measure objectively even
by the use of a carefully prepared set of artificial grades of sleekness.
Again, the angle at which a steer’s ribs appear to spring from his back-
bone undoubtedly has much to do with his market desirability but would
be difficult in the extreme to measure, especially since only curved sur-
faces are involved. Certainly no one measurement or small group of
measurements can approach Weight in completeness as a description or
in economic importance. Nevertheless, if one is going to take the
weights anyhow, a few of the most important measurements discussed
in this Bulletin may give very helpful supplementary information and
may very well prove to be Worth more than the cost of taking the
measurements and the cost and trouble of analyzing the data. The
information yielded by measurements should be regarded as supple-
mentary to and confirmative of the inferences drawn from weight
changes rather than as a substitute for the information gained from
studying the weights alone.

BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 55

SUMMARY

As an incidental part ot various cattle feeding (experiments, certain
hody measurements were taken on 185 steers (livided among l9 diiiie/rent;
lots. These measurenniiits were taken at the beginning of the mans»,-
pcriod when the steers WPTO thin and again at the close 0t the feeding
period when the steers xvere fat. The changes in the measurements of
each steer during‘ slattening were studied t0 determine in an objective
way how the animal’s shape or conformation changed during the fatten-
ing process.

The measurements which were taken on all the steers showed the tol-
lowing" percentage increase or (lecrease relative t0 live weight (luring the
fattening process:

Chest Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 9.29%

Loin Width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 5.18%

Chest Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . + 1.55%

Flank Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. + .97%

Paunch Girth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —— .35%

Depth of Chest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -— 1.95%

Length of Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. —3.53‘%>

Height over Withers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —-5.68’7o

The nine measurements, which were studied on only part oi the steers.
rank 2s follows when (‘OIIIIHUKWl with the other measnrenlents on the
same steers:

Width at hooks changes at approximately the same rate as
flank girth

Width of pelvis changes at approximately the same rate as
paunch girth

Length of pelvis changes at approximately the same rate as
depth of chest

Cannon circumference and width at pin bones make prac-
tically the same change as length of body

Muzzle circumference shows almost as large a decrease rela-
tive to weight as height over withers does

Length of head decreases more than height over withers and
almost as much as height over hips

Height over hips decreases more than height over withers, es-
pecially on the younger groups of cattle

\Vidth at eyes shows the most extreme decrease of all, a change
which would have averaged nearly — 7.8% if it had main-
tained the same ratio to height over withers in all the
groups of steers as it did in the groups on which width
at eyes was actually studied.

Much variation was shown in the amount of change made by ditTerent
individual steers. The standard deviation 0t the percentzigre (ehange in
the various measurements (relative to weight) varied by small steps from
1.78% for cannon circumference to 3.15% for length of body. Three
of the measurements had standard deviations tar outside this range.
'l‘he‘\i' were: loin width 4.3971), width at pin bones 6.76%, and ehestx width

56 BULLETIN NO. 385, TEXAS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION

8.20%. Much of this variation, especially in the last three measure-
ments, is due to errors in taking the measurements but a small part of
it is probably caused by the steers not all changing their shape in eX-
aetly the same way with increasing fatness.

In general, steers increase much more in width during fattening than
they do in length 0r depth of body, and least of all in height and head
mertszirements. In general, the soft parts of the body increase most
rapidly and the only bony measurements which even approximately
keep up with the increase in live weight are the pelvis measurements.

Evidence for a breed difference in the way body conformation changed
with fattening was strong only in the case of flank girth and paunch
girth, in both of which the Herefords increased more or decreased less
relative to live weight than the Brahmans did. However, both these
observed. average differences were practically on the borderline of statis-
tical significance. Therefore, there was very much overlapping of the
individual steers of the two breeds and it would appear impossible to
identify and study theinheritance of different rates of changing flank
girth and paunch girth. The observed differences probably were gen-
uine breed differences but were so slight that averages of fairly large
numbers of steers were required to demonstrate their existence. Under
those circumstances a highly correct classification of individual animals
with respect to these characteristics appears impossible and an imprac-
tie-ably large number of animals would require to be fattened to permit
the discovery of the mode of inheritance of this characteristic even if it
irere really inherited in the simplest monohybrid manner,—a hypothesis
which is probably unjustiflably simple.

lilviilence of age differences are unmistakable for many measurements.
This is particularly true of the pelvis measurements, which were the slow-
est of all the measurements of bony parts to approach their mature
dimensions. Measurements which, like the head measurements, ap-
proached their mature dimensions at a very early age did not show
nearly so much influence of age upon their rates of change.

L- Tn not one of the seventeen measurements studied was the population

surely homogeneous with respect to the average change shown by the
different groups. This heterogeneity was in most cases caused by some
common factor which affected alike all the groups fed in a single season
and which probably was the amount of gain made or some peculiarity in
taking the measurements at that time. Age differences contributed
much to this heterogeneity. Breed differences played a part in at least
two measurements. In some cases no cause for the heterogeneity was
apparent. i

The most generally useful single measurement among those which
increase rapidly with increasing fatness seems to be chest girth, although
chest width and loin width could be more useful if the errors in taking
those measurements could be made as small as the errors in most of the
other measurements.

The most geanerally useful measurement; among those which increase

BODY MEASU_REMEN'I‘S (JF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 57

at a less rapid rate than weight seems t0 be either height at withers or
height over hips, with tl1e former deserving a slight preference on
account of being so generally used as a standard in other measurement
studies. Depth of chest seems to stand next t0 these two measurements

in general usefulness, while length of body also deserves considerationa.

The most generally useful ratio studied seems to be the ratio of chest
girth to wither height, but the ratios of chest width and loin width to
wither height would be still more useful if chest width and loin width
could be determined more accurately, and the ratio of chest girth to
chest depth also deserves eonsiderationd)”

'l‘hroughout the whole question of using body measurements to supple~
nient studies of weight changes in cattle there runs as an undertone the
question of how accurate body measurements can be as objective descrip-
tions of animal form. In general, great accuracy is attained only in the
measurement of rigid, bony structures, such as: head length, cannon
circumference, or width at eyes. However, these parts of the zuiimzil
body are usually of very slight direct commercial importance.
tails of conformation which have a direct commercial importance are
for the most part concerned with soft structures which have curved
surfaces and are joined together by movable joints. They are therefore
difficult or impossible to describe in a mathematical sense with anything
like completeness. It seems to us from our experience in this study
that body measurements should be regarded as of minor importance
compared with weight changes, and that in most cases a system of
artificial grades, standardized either by the use of models or of pictures,

might more satisfactorily describe important details of conformation

than simple linear measurements alone can. Linear measurements
should be regarded as supplementary to other means of (leseription i'athei'
than as a substitute for those other means. The great advantage. of
linear measurements is their high degree of objectivity’, ‘which iltlVillltiitgf!
they share with body weight. '

Literature Cited

1. Brody, Samuel
1927. Gime/h and De/uelepntent With Spec-mt Iteferertee l0 [)0-
mestte Animals. VIII The Iielatiien Between liVetghit
Clrowllt and Linear Growth With Special Reference to
Ihtiry (Iattle. Missouri Agricultural Experiment Sta-
tion, Research Bulletin No. 103.
2. Cochel, W. A. and Severson, B. O. I
1912. Changes in Form Due t0 Fattentng of Horses. Pennsyl-
vania Agricultural Experiment Station Report, pp. 134-
140.
3. Culbertson, C. (l, Evvard, John M. and Hammond, W. E.
1927. Finishing Calves, Yearltngs and Two-Year-Old Steers.
Iowa Agricultural Experiment Station, Leaflet N0. 22.

The d e- -

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192G. The Feeding of Simple Minerals to Fattening S'teers.
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1927. Roughages for Fattening Two-Year-Old Steers.
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Fisher, R. A.
1925. Statistical Methods for Research Workers.
& Boyd, Edinburgh and London. ,
llansen, Paul
1925. Die Itlntioichlung des Cstpreussisclten Sch.roarzioeissen
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lVaclts-lilnls. Arbeiten der Doutschen (iesellsoh-aft iiir
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1913 and 1914. U ntersucltungen tiller (ten ltlirt/liis-s’ (tor ,l*]1'11.ii.h.i'-
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llnltz, Flred S.
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BODY MEASUREMENTS OF STEERS DURING INTENSIVE FATTENING 59_

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