ABSTRACT
Beef cattle are produced basically for the lean meat or muscle content of their carcass. Bone, from a meat production point of view, is simply the framework or carrier of the edible tissues. The amount of fat desired varies with the particular tastes and traditions of different consumer groups, as well as with the class of animal. Double-muscling is an inherited condition; it can occur as an inherited recessive condition in a herd of relatively normal cattle. The University of Alberta has been maintaining a small herd of double-muscled cattle for research purposes at its Kinsella Ranch. Meat-production characteristics of young bulls from the double-muscled group are being compared with thos of bulls from more normal types. Double-muscled animals had only marginally higher percentages of muscles in combined muscle groups involving expensive cuts of meat. Double-muscled animals exceeded the other breeds in percentage of muscle in the hip and stifle region.
