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Divergent selection lines with controls were established, in each of four selection groups, in a Large White population. The selection objectives in the four selection groups were daily food intake, lean food conversion ratio,lean growth rate with ad-libitum feeding and lean growth rate with restricted feeding, during the performance test period.
The first stage of the experiment was to generate a comprehensive set of complementary genotypes, such that the precision of parameter estimates would be increased through the combination of within-selection line and between-selection line information on the parameters. After seven generations of divergent selection in each of the four selection groups, the first stage of the experiment has been completed.
The second stage of the experiment was to utilise the experimental resource of the genotypes to estimate genetic and phenotypic relationships between traits through measurement of the correlated responses to selection. A range of genotype with nutrition interactions are being examined to provide information on the response surfaces of each genotype, such that selection strategies could be evaluated in several nutritional regimes, rather than on just one experimental diet. The range of traits measured include growth, food intake, carcass composition, meat and eating quality, reproductive performance and growth physiology.
On 31 March 2001 the experimental phase of the lean growth study was completed with a total of 14 generations of animals performance tested.
The experiment was funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, now the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and funds have also been obtained from the Meat and Livestock Commission.
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