-2-


 Carcass data was obtained for both studies, with the exception of
 carcass grades during the first trial. Therefore, increase in slaughter
 grade is not presented for this trial. The effect of level of reserpine
 upon intransit shrink, dressing percent and 48-hour cooler shrink was also
 determined. Live weights were taken before and after shipment and carcass
 weights were taken at the time of slaughter and 48 hours following slaughter.
 Dressing percent was determined by dividing the weight at the packing house
 into the hot carcass weight; cooler shrink by dividing the hot carcass weight
 into the actual pounds of shrink during the 48-hour period in the cooler.
 During the second experiment, initial slaughter grades were assigned by a
 committee of three graders and the final carcass grades given by a Federal
 meat grader. The steers in the second study had an average initial slaughter
 grade of high utility.

 Results and Discussion

 The results of the first study are presented in table 1. The average
daily gain per animal was highest for the steers receiving 0.5 and 1.0 mg.
level of the tranquilizer, being 2.22 and 2.28 pounds as compared to 2.10
pounds for the control group. The average gain was lower for the groups
receiving the two higher levels of reserpine. There was no evident sedation
in the steers receiving the higher levels of the drug and feed consumption
was approximately equal to the other groups. The rates of gain of the five
groups were not significantly different statiotitcally due to variation with-
in treatment groups.

 Upon completion of the feeding period the steers were transported appro-
ximately 6 miles to a slaughter house. As shown in table 1, the average
intransit shrink was highest in the group receiving the 0.5 mg. levels and
lowest for the steers on the two higher levels. Average dressing percent was
higher than the control group for the groups receiving 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 mg.
of the drug. Cooler shrink was approximately the same for all five groups.
While these data were not significantly different, statistically, they indi-
cate a definite advantage for the steers receiving the two lower levels of
the tranquilizer, indicating that levels used in other reports may be too
high for optimum results.

Table 1. Summary of average weight gains, feed utilizing and carcass data
 of steers on various levels of reserpine. (Experiment I, July 27,
 1959- November 2, 1959, 98 days).
Level of Reserpine (mg/an/day) 0 0.5 1.0 2.0 4.0
Number steers 8 8 8 8 8
Initial weight (Ibs.) 745 726 741 751 746
Final weight (Ibs.) 951 944 964 952 941
Total gain (Ibs.) 206 218 223 201 195
Daily gain (Ibs.) 2.10 2.22 2.28 2.05 1.99
Daily feed consumption (Ibs.) 20.0 19.5 21.1 19.6 19.4
Feed/lb. gain (lbs.) 9.5 8.8 9.3 9.6 9.7
Intransit shrink (%) 2.0 2.6 2.0 1.7 1.6
Dressing percent (%) 61.9 62.1 62.6 62.4 61.8
48-hr. cooler shrink (%) 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.7 3.6