3
is less than 3mm thick.
2. Correct values displayed on the digital tube indicate that the backfat measurement is
success; if the values are not correctly, it indicates that the contact with skin is not good. Put
amount of coupling gel, move the probe back and forth to remove the air bubbles and keep the
probe perpendicular to the back. Probe coupling is very important for measurement result.
3. Small irregularities in the fat may block the beam of sound. Moving the probe slightly
will allow the beam to bypass, and the correct reading to appear. Fat layers are not uniformly
thick. Averaging two or three readings at adjacent sites insures greatest accuracy.
Note 2:
4. When measuring the older animal, if necessary, it needs to remove the hair at the site
and wet the skin with hot water, then apply light oil to wet the skin one minute or two before
measuring. Always keep the probe perpendicular to the animal’s back. If chooses the
inaccurate site, such as animal shoulder or arm, the measured result is not accurate.
5. Many hogs have the thin third layer of fat at an early age. As they increase in weight
and age, the third layer becomes thicker and wider spread over the body.
6. Applying unevenly ultrasonic coupling gel or testing on the palm or other parts of
body, which may cause two digital tubes respectively display “E” and “1”, which is normal
phenomenon.
7. Have a bad contact, first remove any possible manure, straw and excess hair, etc.,
which may cause a poor contact between the sound window and skin and leading to
inaccurate measured results.
8. When the probe leaves the measuring point, it needs to reapply ultrasonic coupling gel
evenly to continue measurement.
Example: Locating the best test site for swine’s backfat
1. The most accurate measuring site: walk your fingers forward along the flank until you feel
the last rib (determining the front and rear position), 6.5cm from either side of the backbone
(determining the left and right position), put the coupling gel on the skin, make sure good
contact between the probe and skin.
2. Press key with thumb, left digital tube displays “8 13 15”, right digital tube displays
the No. “1”, it indicates that have measured the first group of data. Namely, the first value
represents: the backfat thickness of the first layer is 8mm; the second value represents: the
total of thickness for the first layer plus the second layer is 13mm; the third value represents:
the total of thickness for the first layer plus the second layer and plus the third layer is 15mm.
The display results are as figure:
Note:
1. When the thickness of the first layer ≤15mm thick, the three data were displayed the
first layer of backfat thickness, 2 layers of backfat thickness, 3 layers of backfat thickness. If
there is no third layer, the third data was displayed 0.
