Genetic parameters for dystocia, milk yield and age at first calving in Brazilian Holstein cows

The present study aims to estimate genetic parameters for dystocia, milk yield and age at first calving of Holstein cows reared in intensive production systems located in the southeastern region of Brazil. A total of 26,987 first-lactation records of Holstein cows were used. The following traits wer...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Stefani, Gabriela [UNESP], Brandão Aquaroli, Daniele, Batista Gonçalves Costa Júnior, João, Santana Júnior, Mário Luiz, Tonhati, Humberto [UNESP], Sesana, Roberta Cristina, El Faro, Lenira
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/207006
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09712119.2020.1856115
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/207006
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Dairy cattle
genetic correlation
heritability
threshold model
Descripción
Sumario:The present study aims to estimate genetic parameters for dystocia, milk yield and age at first calving of Holstein cows reared in intensive production systems located in the southeastern region of Brazil. A total of 26,987 first-lactation records of Holstein cows were used. The following traits were analysed: 305-day cumulative first lactation milk yield (MY305), age at first calving (AFC) and dystocia. Dystocia was defined as a binary trait, with 0 indicating failure and 1 indicating success. Success was attributed to cows that had a normal calving, and failure was attributed to cows that had a difficult or human-assisted parturition. The (co)variance components were estimated using a Bayesian approach. The heritability estimates were 0.15 (0.01), 0.27 (0.02), and 0.17 (0.03) for MY305, AFC and dystocia, respectively. Dystocia showed genetic correlations of 0.30 (0.09) with AFC and −0.17 (0.11) with MY305. Early maturing heifers may be genetically prone to a more difficult first calving.