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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Asian-Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies
2012-01-01
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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 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT zenonnogalski associationoflengthofpregnancywithotherreproductivetraitsindairycattle AT dariuszpiwczynski associationoflengthofpregnancywithotherreproductivetraitsindairycattle |
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1725902348256018432 |