10 BULLETIN 1464, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
FINISH 
Finish is fat. It includes both the fat on the outside of the ani- 
mal's body and on the inside of the abdominal and thoracic cavities 
as well as the intermuscular and intramuscular fat. In the live 
animals the interior fats can be judged only by analogy. Finish 
involves the quantity, quality, and distribution of fat. Like confor- 
mation, it is dependent somewhat on inherited tendencies or breed- 
ing, but in the main it depends on the quantity, kind, and quality of 
feed consumed, age, and sex condition of the animal, and on methods 
of handling. 
The degree of finish demanded in best slaughter cattle is one which 
will insure that the animal when slaughtered will have a high dress- 
ing percentage with the carcass having the proper thickness and 
firmness of external and internal fat which is smooth and evenly 
distributed. This degree of finish or fatness involves the thickness, 
firmness, smoothness, and evenness of both the external fat covering 
of the carcass and the internal fat which covers the kidneys and the 
walls of the abdominal and thoracic cavities. 
Slaughter animals have a wide range of variation in respect to 
these characteristics of their finish. The external fat covering of 
the animal may be very thick or extremely thin. An animal which 
has a thick fat covering has noticeably large fat deposits over most 
parts, whereas others are so devoid of fat that they have no apparent 
deposits of fat at any point. The fat covering of an animal may 
be very firm or it may be very soft. 
The animal with a smooth finish is free of or has relatively small 
ties, rolls, bunches, or patches, whereas the animal with a rough 
finish usually has large rolls, bunches, or patches of fat. The fat 
covering of the animal may also be even or uneven to a very great 
extent. 
The thickness of an animal's fat covering varies on different 
parts of its body. In the very fat animal the fat is usually thickest 
over the loins, crops, back, rump and brisket, rear flank, and twist 
and is usually proportionately thick on other parts of the body. An 
animal has an even fat covering when the fat is of the right pro- 
portionate thickness on each part, and has an uneven fat covering 
when one or more of the parts do not have the proper proportionate 
thickness of fat covering. 
Best or ideal finish is indicated by the general appearance of the 
animal, the finish or degree of thickness of the fat covering being 
sufficient to cause all the lines of the animal to appear fully and 
equally rounded out. This degree of finish may be more accurately 
judged by handling, being particularly indicated by a very full 
brisket, very full rear flanks, and a liberal covering of fat over hip 
bones, pin bones, and the middle of the sides. The fat covering is 
extremely smooth, being free of ties or rolls of fat and excessive 
patches or bunches of fat around the tail head. In animals of this 
degree of finish each primal part has just the right proportionate 
thickness of fat covering. The thick outer covering of fat also indi- 
cates that there will be more or less liberal distribution of inter- 
muscular and intramuscular fat throughout all parts of the body. 
