Dear meat friends,
Without knowing Jean-Denis Vigne's original work, I must say that I
find two of the carcass weights listed relatively high. Sheep looks
OK, but 400 kg for cattle is relatively high (even w/offal & fat).
Noddle (1973) listed dozens of FAT FREE carcass weights without
offal ranging between 100 and 250 kg. But could he difference be
so great (at least twice Noddle's modern cattle values)?
For an average pig the 130 carcass weight looks absolutely
humungous as well, since this would be quite a handsome value
even for live weight in "unimproved" domestic pig. According to Van
den Brink (1968: 152), wild sows weigh 35-150 kg, while boars are
50-175 kg [in France], and these are supposed to be the robust
ancestors.
I trust that these data are correct, however, they warn us of the
tremendous variability in this regard. Does anyone know other
values?
References
Noddle, B. 1973. Determination of the body weight of cattle from
bone measurements. In J. Matolcsi ed. Domestikationsforschung
und Geschichte der Haustiere. Budapest, Akademiai Kiado: 377-
389.
Van den Brink, F. H. 1968. A field guide to the mammals of Britain
and Europe. The Peterson Field Guide Series: 152.
Best wishes, Laszlo
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