Association of Length of Pregnancy with Other Reproductive Traits in Dairy Cattle

The experiment involved observations of 2,514 Holstein-Friesian cows to determine the effects of environmental factors (cow’s age, calving season, weight and sex of calves, housing system) and genetic factors on gestation length in dairy cattle and the correlation between gestation length and other...

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Main Authors: Zenon Nogalski, Dariusz Piwczyński
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies 2012-01-01
Series:Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ajas.info/upload/pdf/25-3.pdf
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spelling doaj-80e08f746b814441a5a77460e0ba25fb2020-11-24T21:46:02ZengAsian-Australasian Association of Animal Production SocietiesAsian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences1011-23671976-55172012-01-01251222710.5713/ajas.2011.1108422646Association of Length of Pregnancy with Other Reproductive Traits in Dairy CattleZenon NogalskiDariusz Piwczyński0 University of Technology and Life Sciences, Department of Genetics and General Animal Breeding, ul. Ks. Kordeckiego 20, 85-225 Bydgoszcz, .PolandThe experiment involved observations of 2,514 Holstein-Friesian cows to determine the effects of environmental factors (cow’s age, calving season, weight and sex of calves, housing system) and genetic factors on gestation length in dairy cattle and the correlation between gestation length and other reproductive traits (calving ease, stillbirth rates and placental expulsion). Genetic parameters were estimated based on the sires of calved cows (indirect effect) and the sires of live-born calves (direct effect). The following factors were found to contribute to prolonged gestation: increasing cow’s age, male fetuses and growing fetus weight. Optimal gestation length was determined in the range of 275–277 days based on calving ease and stillbirth rates. The heritability of gestation length was estimated at 0.201–0.210 by the direct effect and 0.055–0.073 by the indirect effect. The resulting genetic correlations suggest that the efforts to optimize (prolong) gestation length could exert an adverse influence on the breeding value of bulls by increasing perinatal mortality and calving difficulty. The standard errors of the investigated parameters were relatively high, suggesting that any attempts to modify gestation length for the purpose of improving calving ease and reducing stillbirth rates should be introduced with great caution.http://www.ajas.info/upload/pdf/25-3.pdfHolstein-Friesian BreedCalving EaseStillbirth RatesHeritabilityGenetic Correlations
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Zenon Nogalski
Dariusz Piwczyński
spellingShingle Zenon Nogalski
Dariusz Piwczyński
Association of Length of Pregnancy with Other Reproductive Traits in Dairy Cattle
Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
Holstein-Friesian Breed
Calving Ease
Stillbirth Rates
Heritability
Genetic Correlations
author_facet Zenon Nogalski
Dariusz Piwczyński
author_sort Zenon Nogalski
title Association of Length of Pregnancy with Other Reproductive Traits in Dairy Cattle
title_short Association of Length of Pregnancy with Other Reproductive Traits in Dairy Cattle
title_full Association of Length of Pregnancy with Other Reproductive Traits in Dairy Cattle
title_fullStr Association of Length of Pregnancy with Other Reproductive Traits in Dairy Cattle
title_full_unstemmed Association of Length of Pregnancy with Other Reproductive Traits in Dairy Cattle
title_sort association of length of pregnancy with other reproductive traits in dairy cattle
publisher Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies
series Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
issn 1011-2367
1976-5517
publishDate 2012-01-01
description The experiment involved observations of 2,514 Holstein-Friesian cows to determine the effects of environmental factors (cow’s age, calving season, weight and sex of calves, housing system) and genetic factors on gestation length in dairy cattle and the correlation between gestation length and other reproductive traits (calving ease, stillbirth rates and placental expulsion). Genetic parameters were estimated based on the sires of calved cows (indirect effect) and the sires of live-born calves (direct effect). The following factors were found to contribute to prolonged gestation: increasing cow’s age, male fetuses and growing fetus weight. Optimal gestation length was determined in the range of 275–277 days based on calving ease and stillbirth rates. The heritability of gestation length was estimated at 0.201–0.210 by the direct effect and 0.055–0.073 by the indirect effect. The resulting genetic correlations suggest that the efforts to optimize (prolong) gestation length could exert an adverse influence on the breeding value of bulls by increasing perinatal mortality and calving difficulty. The standard errors of the investigated parameters were relatively high, suggesting that any attempts to modify gestation length for the purpose of improving calving ease and reducing stillbirth rates should be introduced with great caution.
topic Holstein-Friesian Breed
Calving Ease
Stillbirth Rates
Heritability
Genetic Correlations
url http://www.ajas.info/upload/pdf/25-3.pdf
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