Comparative performance of F1 Friesian × Zebu heifers in Ethiopia

1983 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Alberro

ABSTRACTThe performance of 200 F1 Friesian ♂ × zebu ♀ and 90 zebu heifers on 14 dairy cooperative farms near Addis Ababa was compared over a 2-year period. The farms varied in management and feeding but in general the standards were low. Each farm had zebu and Friesian × zebu cows given the same management and feeding. Measurements were made of milk production traits of economic importance, including physiological and behavioural factors important for management purposes.The Friesian ♂ × zebu ♀ crossbred heifers showed an advantage in having an earlier age at puberty and at first calving, higher milk production, longer lactations, better disposition at milking and better reproductive performance. The calves from these crossbred heifers were larger at birth but there were more problems at calving. The zebu heifers withstood better the two periods of drought that occurred during the study. No significant differences were found in disease incidence, parasitic resistance, mastitis incidence or mortality. The interval between oestrus was normal in the F1 heifers but longer in the zebus. The duration of gestation was much longer in the zebus (mean 291 days). The duration of oestrus was 4·5 h for the zebu and 10·0 h for the F1 heifers, the latter being-much longer than the mean of 7·4 h reported in the literature. The F1 heifers showed the first oestrus after calving much sooner than did the zebus.

Author(s):  
Alok Kumar Yadav ◽  
Anupama Mukherjee ◽  
Suchit Kumar

PCR-RFLP analysis of PCR products were carried out using Aci I / SSi I for 100 Sahiwal and 115 Karan Fries cattle. In Sahiwal cattle and Karan Fries cattle, 438bp has three genotypes AA (438), AB (438+299+139 bp) and BB (299+139 bp). In Sahiwal cattle these genotypes are highly significant for FL305DPY but in Karan Fries cattle these genotypes are highly significant for FL305DMY, FLTMY, FL305DFY and FL305DPY. In Sahiwal cattle, mean ± SE of AA genotype for FL305DMY, FLTMY, FL305DFY, FL305DSNFY, FL305DPY were 1809.90 ± 15.7 kg, 2029.4 ± 15.6 kg, 99.90 ± 0.66 kg, 154.87 ± 0.17 kg and 44.81 ± 0.06 kg, respectively and for AB genotype were 1800.76 ± 9.48 kg, 1993.99 ± 9.42 kg, 100.54 ± 0.39 kg, 154.79 ± 0.10 kg, 43.99 ± 0.04 kg, respectively and for BB genotype were 1830.0 ± 14.10 kg, 2032.80 ± 14.0 kg, 100.24 ± 0.59 kg, 155.11 ± 0.15 kg, 42.98 ± 0.05 kg, respectively. Heterozygous AB genotype was found to be superior for, FL305DFY trait. AA genotype was significantly superior for FL305DPY traits whereas BB genotype was found to be superior for FL305DMY, FLTMY, FL305DSNFY. In Karan Fries cattle, the mean ± SE of AA genotype for FL305DMY, FLTMY, FL305DFY, FL305DSNFY, FL305DPY were 3442.17 ± 8.39 kg, 4461.93 ± 8.39 kg, 124.96 ± 7.20 kg, 277.35 ± 0.08 kg and 112.51 ± 0.08 kg, respectively and for AB genotype were 3572.69 ± 5.93 kg, 4592.45 ± 5.93 kg, 140.17 ± 5.09 kg, 278.60 ± 0.06 kg, 113.91 ± 0.05 kg, respectively and for BB genotypes were 3502.41 ± 9.19 kg, 4522.17 ± 9.19 kg, 136.91 ± 7.89 kg, 277.93 ± 0.09 kg, 113.19 ± 0.08 kg, respectively.


Author(s):  
Rahman Hussein AL-Qasimi ◽  
Shatha Mohammed Abbas ◽  
Allawi L.D. AL-Khauzai

The study was carried out on 19 ewes of local Awassi sheep and 12ewes local Arabi sheep in the Al-kafeel sheep station Karbala, to determine the effect of breed and some non-genetic factors such as (sex of the lamb, type of birth, age and weight of ewes at birth) on daily and total milk production and lactation period and some of milk components (fat, protein and lactose). The results showed that a significant effect (P <0.05) of the breed on milk production traits where Awassi sheep recorded the highest mean (0.91 kg , 101.63 kg , 104.86 day) compared to the Arabi sheep she was means (0.77 kg , 88.15 kg , 99.15 day) respectively. As well as in proportions of milk components with mean( 5.1 , 4.90 , 5.51) % respectively compared to the Arabi sheep (4.70 . 4.20 . 4.89) ewes with male lambs also exceeded superior ewes with female lambs in daily and total milk production and the lactation period the sex of the lamb did not affect the proportions of milk components the weight of the ewes had a significant effect (P <0.05) in milk production attributes with superior weight of ewes on lower ewes and did not affect the proportions of milk ingredients except for lactose. The type of birth and the age of the ewes did not have a significant effect in all the studied traits except for the superiority (P<0.05) of young ewes on age ewes in the fat percentage of milk.


2017 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 430-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Li ◽  
Aixin Liang ◽  
Zipeng Li ◽  
Chao Du ◽  
Guohua Hua ◽  
...  

This Research Communication describes the association between genetic variation within the prolactin (PRL) gene and the milk production traits of Italian Mediterranean river buffalo (Bufala mediterranea Italiana). High resolution melting (HRM) techniques were developed for genotyping 465 buffaloes. The association of genetic polymorphism with milk production traits was performed and subsequently the effects of parity and calving season were evaluated. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified at exons 2 and 5 and at introns 1 and 2. All the SNPs were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, and statistical analysis showed that the polymorphism of intron1 was significantly (P < 0·05) associated with milk yield, milk protein content and peak milk yield. The average contribution of the intron1 genotype (r2intron1) to total phenotypic variance in milk production traits was 0·09, and the TT genotype showed lower values than CC and CT genotypes. A nonsynonymous SNP was identified in exon 2, which resulted in an amino acid change from arginine to cysteine. Moreover, the polymorphism of exon 2 was associated significantly with milk fat content (P < 0·05), and the buffaloes with TT genotype showed higher total fat content than the buffaloes with CT genotype. These findings provide evidence that polymorphisms of the buffalo PRL gene are associated with milk production traits and PRL can be used as a candidate gene for marker-assisted selection in Italian Mediterranean river buffalo breeding.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Brian Christensen ◽  
Elias D. Zachariae ◽  
Nina A. Poulsen ◽  
Albert J. Buitenhuis ◽  
Lotte B. Larsen ◽  
...  

Abstract Our objective was to determine the content of the bioactive protein osteopontin (OPN) in bovine milk and identify factors influencing its concentration. OPN is expressed in many tissues and body fluids, with by far the highest concentrations in milk. OPN plays a role in immunological and developmental processes and it has been associated with several milk production traits and lactation persistency in cows. In the present study, we report the development of an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for measurement of OPN in bovine milk. The method was used to determine the concentration of OPN in milk from 661 individual Danish Holstein cows. The median OPN level was determined to 21.9 mg/l with a pronounced level of individual variation ranging from 0.4 mg/l to 67.8 mg/l. Breeding for increased OPN in cow's milk is of significant interest, however, the heritability of OPN in milk was found to be relatively low, with an estimated value of 0.19 in the current dataset. The variation explained by the herd was also found to be low suggesting that OPN levels are not affected by farm management or feeding. Interestingly, the concentration of OPN was found to increase with days in milk and to decrease with parity.


Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 144 (4) ◽  
pp. 1809-1816 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianbo Yao ◽  
Samuel E Aggrey ◽  
David Zadworny ◽  
J Flan Hayes ◽  
Urs Kühnlein

Sequence variations in the bovine growth hormone (GH) gene were investigated by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of seven amplified fragments covering almost the entire gene (2.7 kb). SSCPs were detected in four of these fragments and a total of six polymorphisms were found in a sample of 128 Holstein bulls. Two polymorphisms, a T→C transition in the third intron (designated GH4.1) and an A→C transversion in the fifth exon (designated GH6.2), were shown to be associated with milk production traits. GH4.1c/GH4.1c bulls had higher milk yield than GH4.1c/GH4.1t (P ≤ 0.005) and GH4.1t/GH4.1t (P ≤ 0.0022) bulls. GH4.1c/GH4.1c bulls had higher kg fat (P ≤ 0.0076) and protein (P ≤ 0.0018) than GH4.1c/GH4.1t bulls. Similar effects on milk production traits with the GH6.2 polymorphism were observed with the GH6.2a allele being the favorable allele. The average effects of the gene substitution for GH4.1 and GH6.2 are similar, with ±300 kg for milk yield, ±8 kg for fat content and ±7 kg for protein content per lactation. The positive association of GH4.1c and GH6.2a with milk production traits may be useful for improving milk performance in dairy cattle.


2000 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 515 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Shariflou ◽  
C. Moran ◽  
F. W. Nicholas

The occurrence of the Leu127/Val127 variants of the bovine growth hormone (bGH) gene and their effect on milk production traits was investigated in Australian Holstein-Friesian cattle. Animals were genotyped for the Leu127/Val127 variants, with RFLP methodology, using PCR and AluI digestion of PCR products (AluI-RFLP). Alleles Leu127 and Val127 occurred with frequencies of 82% and 18%, respectively. The quantitative effect of this polymorphic site on milk-production traits was estimated from lactation data and test-day data. Results from the 2 data sets consistently showed that the Leu127 allele is associated with higher production of milk, fat, and protein and is dominant to Val127. The average effects of the gene substitution are 95 L for milk yield, 7 kg for fat yield, and 3 kg for protein yield per lactation. This locus may be directly responsible for quantitative variation or it may be a marker for a closely linked quantitative trait locus (QTL) for milk-production traits in Australian dairy cattle. In either case, it will be useful as an aid to selection for improvement of milk production traits. As the Leu127 allele is dominant, selection of AI sires homozygous for the Leu127 allele (Leu127/Leu127) will result in maximum benefit without the need for genotyping cows.


2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Selvaggi ◽  
Sara Albarella ◽  
Cataldo Dario ◽  
Vincenzo Peretti ◽  
Francesca Ciotola

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