Testosterone in the hair as a prognostic marker of beef productivity of bulls

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of testosterone levels in withers hair on the productive qualities and meat productivity of Hereford bulls (n = 60).

According to hormone levels, the animals were divided into three groups: low, medium and high testosterone. Testosterone concentration was measured by ELISA after hormone extraction from hair. The weight gain, slaughter parameters, and morphological and chemical composition of the carcasses were evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed using the Student’s t-test.

The results showed a pronounced positive relationship between testosterone levels and growth rate. Bulls with high hormone levels significantly outperformed animals with low levels in terms of absolute (by 23.1%) and average daily (by 23.1%) weight gain, carcass weight (by 10.2%) and pulp weight (by 11.1%). At the same time, there was a significant decrease in internal fat deposition (by 0.4%) and an increase in protein content (by 1.1%) in the longest muscle. Thus, the determination of testosterone in hair is a reliable tool for predicting meat productivity and can be used in breeding work to select animals with optimal hormonal status.

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