Fattening and meat qualities of hybrids from terminal boars of foreign selection
Authors: Berezovskyi Mykola , Vashchenko Pavlo , Vovk Oleksandr 
Published: May 2023

The goal is to determine the efficiency of using terminal boars of the Optimus
and Alba lines in hybridization systems. Methods. The research was carried out in the
conditions of LLC "Agro-industrial company" of the Zaporizhzhia region. The object of
the study were hybrid pigs obtained as a result of the combination of purebred and
crossbred sows of different breeds with boars of the Optimus and Alba lines. The
fattening and meat qualities of experimental pigs were determined according to the
following indexes: average daily gain during the period of control fattening, g; age of
reaching 100 kg live weight, days; feed consumption per 1 kg of live weight gain, feed.
unit; thickness of lard at the level of 6–7 vertebrae, mm. A comprehensive evaluation of young pigs of the experimental groups for fattening and meat qualities was carried out
based on the calculation of the Tyler index. The results. It was determined that, with the
exception of lard thickness, descendants of boars of the Alba line prevailed in most
productive traits, where, for example, the average daily growth of hybrid young pigs
from ♀Durok×♂Landrace sows was at the level of 910 g with an evaluation index of
262.4 units. This applies to the combination of Alba boars with sows ♀Landrace×♂
Large White, where the average daily gains of the hybrids amounted to 894.0 g, and the
age of reaching a live weight of 100 kg was 171.8 days, with an evaluation index of
259.3 units. (The average index for all combinations is 249.9 units). Combinations with
the Optimus line slightly lagged behind Alba boars, especially in combinations with
sows ♀Landras×♂ Large White, ♀Landras×♂Optimus, where the average daily gains
were 753.1 and 763.1 g, respectively, with indices of 219.7 and 295.4 units However,
the Optimus terminal line showed high results of the fattening qualities of the offspring
with sows of the combination ♀Large White ×♂Landrace (average daily gains of
872.0 g, age of reaching 100 kg weight – 177 days with an evaluation index of
246.8 units).
Taking into account the fact that sows of the combination ♀ Large White
×♂Landrace (F1) are most common in commodity farms of Ukraine, including in
industrial complexes, the use of boars of the Optimus line should also be considered
promising and should be widely used in hybridization. Conclusions. It was established
that when sows of different origin were combined with boars of two terminal lines,
higher results were obtained in the offspring of Alba boars, analogous groups by
maternal origin prevailed in the offspring of Optimus line boars by 8.3–18.7 % in terms
of average daily growth and by 1 .5–7.3 % by the age of reaching a live weight of
100 kg. The best result when using boars of the Optimus terminal line was obtained
when they were combined with sows ♀LW×♂L (F1), the average daily gains were
higher by 15.4–3.8 % compared to other variants of their combination with sows.
Considering that ♀LW×♂L (F1) sows are the most common in commercial pig farming
of Ukraine, the use of boars of the Optimus line should be recommended as promising
in hybridization systems in which ♀LW×♂L (F1) sows are used.
Key words: selection, hybridization, terminal boars, evaluation index, boar
lines, fattening qualities.