Growth performance and carcass characteristics of indigenous Mukota pigs of Zimbabwe

Carcass quality characteristics are essential in affecting grading and revenue that pig producers realize. No information is available on the grading of carcasses in indigenous Mukota pigs of Zimbabwe. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of genotype (Mukota and Large White x Mukota) and sex on post-weaning growth performance and carcass traits of pigs fed maize cob-based diets. All pigs were weighed at 2-week intervals to estimate average daily gain, dressing percentage (DP), and carcass lengths. Backfat thickness was also measured. Males had higher body weight gains than females (P<0.05). Growth rates for Mukota (0.31+/-0.010) and crossbred (0.41+/-0.030) pigs were lower in the cool season than the other seasons (P<0.05). Body weights were consistently higher in the crossbred than in the Mukota pigs (P<0.05). Mukota pigs showed a peak growth between 12 and 14 weeks post-weaning (P<0.05). The DPs were 0.70 and 0.73 for the Mukota and crossbred pigs, respectively (P<0.05). Crossbred pigs had longer (P<0.05) carcasses than Mukota (655.5+/-1.68 versus 507.2+/-0.92 mm). Although there were no differences in the backfat thickness between males and females of the crossbred pigs, Mukota males had thicker backfat than the females (P<0.05). Crossbreeding is, therefore, significant in improving carcass grades of Mukota pigs.