Proportionality of organ development in osteodystrophic dwarf beef cattle

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Abstract
Sixteen osteodystrophic dwarf cattle and ten controls of comparable age were slaughtered. The components of the body and eviscerated carcass were weighed and measured. At birth the dwarfs were thick and blocky. At the time of slaughter a bulging forehead was common but not always extreme and not always present. The symptoms of dwarfism became increasingly pronounced with age, due to retarded growth. The dwarfs had shorter thoracic cavity, abdominal cavity, body, loin, hind leg, arm bone and forearm bone than the controls. No explanation can be given for the difference. However, the dwarfs were hydrocephalic and had significantly lighter adrenal and pituitary glands than the control animals. The dwarf animals had more blood, heavier feet, less abdominal fat, smaller loin ‘eye muscle’ area at the 12th rib and a less deep loin ‘eye muscle’. The dwarf females had a lighter rumen (with and without contents) and large intestines (without content) as a percentage of live weight than the controls and dwarf males. There was no difference in palatability of the meat or percentage of wholesale cuts from the dwarf and control animals except for percentage of plate. The following three ratios were disproportionate in the dwarfs as compared with the controls: