Heredity of osteochondrosis, body constitution and leg weakness in the pig. A correlative investigation using progeny testing

Abstract

Sixty-three boars of the Swedish Landrace and the Yorkshire breed were progeny tested. Production variables were correlated with frequency of osteochondrotic lesions at three sites, length of radius, and presence of leg weakness in 416 offspring. Osteochondrotic lesions in distal femur and humerus were found to be correlated with desirable production variables. No correlation existed between presence of osteochondrosis and leg weakness. Analysis of variance showed that breed and boar within breed influenced frequency and distribution of osteochondrosis. The pigs of the Yorkshire breed were less affected. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.14 to 0.30 for the osteochondrotic lesions at three sites. It should be noted that these figures are preliminary because of the limited number of offspring. It was concluded that a possibility exists to lower frequency of osteochondrosis in the pig with only some loss of valuable production qualities.