Journal of Animal Science and Technology
Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology
Article

Effect of Short-term Fattening Period and Castration Method on Productivity, Serum Testosterone, and Economic Efficacy in Hanwoo Cattle

Jun Sang Ahn1, Eung Gi Kwon2, Hyun Jeong Lee1, Ui Hyung Kim1, Jeong Il Won1, Sun Sik Jang1, Byung Ki Park2,*
1Hanwoo Research Institute, National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Pyeongchang 25340, Korea.
2Department of Animal Science, Kangwon National University, Chunchoen 24341, Korea.
*Corresponding Author: Byung Ki Park, Department of Animal Science, Kangwon National University, Chunchoen 24341, Korea, Republic of. E-mail: animalpark@kangwon.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2022 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Sep 01, 2022; Revised: Oct 03, 2022; Accepted: Oct 19, 2022

Published Online: Dec 20, 2022

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of castration method and short-term fattening periods on Hanwoo cattle. Thirty-two Hanwoo calves (average body weight: 148.4 ± 19.8 kg) were used. The calves were randomly assigned in a 2 × 2 factor according to two castration methods (castration or hemi-castration) and two short-term finishing periods (24 months or 26 months). The final body weight increased significantly as the fattening period increased (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05), and the average daily weight gain was higher in the hemi-castration groups than in the castration groups (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). After surgical castration, testosterone concentration was higher in the hemi-castration group than in the castration group during the entire experimental period (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.05). The rib eye area was wider in the hemi-castration group than in the castration group (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01).An interaction effect was observed between the castration method and short-term fattening period (<italic>p </italic>&lt; 0.05). Marbling and auction price scores differed between castration methods and were higher in the castration group than in the hemi-castration group (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01). Gross receipts and net income increased in the castration group compared to the hemi-castration group (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01) and showed a tendency to increase with the short-term fattening period, but there was no significant difference. Thus, castration to remove both testicles is essential for economic profit through producing high-quality Korean beef meat, and short-term fattening for 26 months, rather than 24 months, can benefit more by increasing carcass weight and meat quality.

Keywords: Short-term fattening; Testosterone; Hemi-castration; Hanwoo; Net income