Factors affecting body weight at birth and at 90 days of age in pure-bred and cross-bred cattle in a tropical environment

1972 ◽  
Vol 78 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. B. Willis ◽  
P. D. P. Wood ◽  
A. Kaspar

SUMMARYLive weights of 8764 calves born in seven herds in Cuba during the years 1966–8 were measured at birth and at approximately 3 months of age. Over 2600 were pure bred: Zebu (2002), Santa Gertrudis (435) and Charolais (212); the remainder were crossbred Holstein x Zebu (4955) and Brown Swiss x Zebu (1160).Year, season of birth, herd and sex were associated with variation in mean birth weight in all breeds and crosses except Charolais in which no seasonal effect was apparent and in Brown Swiss x Zebu cross-breeds in which herd and sex effects were absent.At 90 days there was a general tendency for calves born in late spring and summer to be heavier than those bom at other times. By this age, herd variation had subsided among Brown Swiss x Zebu cross-breds, and variation due to sex had ceased to be important among Charolais calves.Estimates of heritability of birth weight ranged from 0·09 in Holstein crosses to 0·62 in Brown Swiss crosses, and of weight at 90 days from 0·05 in Brown Swiss crosses to 0·44 in the Charolais breed. Phenotypic correlations between birth and 90 days weights were of the order of + 0·25 while genetic correlations were positive for pure breeds and negative for cross-breeds.

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 101-106
Author(s):  
O. W. Ehoche ◽  
A. E. O. Malau-aduli ◽  
B. Y. Abubakar

Calving records from 1984 - 1989 were studied to determine the influence of rearing method, sex of calf, season of birth, dam breed and year of birth on body weight at birth, 3,6 and 12 months of age in Friesian x Bunaji calves. The mean weights of calves at birth, 3, 6 and 12 months of age were 22.0, 68.2, 96.7 and 137.4 kg, respectively. Sex of calf had a significant effect, with male calves being heavier than the females by 1.2, 5.9 and 9.7 kg at birth, 3 and 6 months of age respectively. The effect of season of birth on calf body weights was not significant except at 6 months of age, when calves born during the wet season were heavier (P<0.01) than those born in the harmattan period by 9.5 kg. Year of birth had a highly significant effect (P<0.01) on calf weights from birth to yearling. Method of rearing and dam breed had no significant influence on all the weights. The results suggest the need to develop correction factors for standardisation of weight records when comparing dams on the basis of body weights of their calves.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 629-636
Author(s):  
Hermiz & Hadad

This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting reproductive traits using records collected during two calving seasons (2016-2017) and (2017-2018) from three herds of dairy cattle bred at Erbil-Iraq, and includes 323 lactation period (LP), 159 age at first calving (AFC) and 159 calving interval (CI). GLM within SAS used to diagnose the significance effects of the available factors affecting the studied traits. Repeatability of LP also estimated. Overall mean of LP, AFC and CI for the three breeds in all herds were 300.14 days, 27.709 months, and 360.26 days respectively. Simmental recorded significantly (p<0.01) higher LP (302.95 days) comparing with Friesian (296.81 days) and Bokane (293.24 days). Differences in LP due to the herd were significant (p<0.01). LP decline significantly (p<0.01) from 306.05 days in the 1st parity to 290.22 days in the 4th parity. Effects of year and season of calving on LP were not significant. Cows calved females had significantly longer LP (299.39 days) than cows calved males (295.95 days). Regression of LP on AFC (0.207 day/mo.) was not significant, while regressions on body weight of cow at calving (0.088 day/kg) and on birth weight of their calfs (1.661 day/kg) were significant. Repeatability estimate for LP was 0.55. Differences in AFC due to the breed were highly significant, while the effect of herd, year and season of birth were not significant. Regression of AFC on their body weight at calving was not significant (-0.01 day/kg). Differences among the breeds, herds and parities in their CI were not significant. Cows calved in winter and spring recorded significantly shorter CI as compared with those calved in summer and autumn. Regression coefficient of CI on AFC (0.692 day/mo.) was not significant, while the regression on body weight of cow at calving (0.151 day/kg) was highly significant.


Author(s):  
Juan Gabriel Magaña- Monforte ◽  
Mahmoud Mohamed Nasrat ◽  
Rubén Cornelio Montes-Pérez, Jesús R. Aké-López, José C. Segura-Correa

The aim of the study was to evaluate the productivity and efficiency of ewes, relative to the body weight and metabolic body weight in four hair sheep breeds. The dataset included the records of litter size, parity number, birth weight, weaning weight, age at weaning, and ewe body weight (EBW), recorded 24 hours after lambing, from 926 purebred ewes. In total, there were 1,198 lambing records (114, 86, 434 and 564 for Blackbelly, Dorper, Katahdin and Pelibuey, respectively). Ewe metabolic body weight at lambing was calculated as EBW0.75. Ewe productivity was evaluated at weaning, and ewe efficiency as the ratio of kg of lamb produced at weaning (adjusted at 60 d of age) divided by ewe body weight or EBW0.75, respectively. Katahdin and Dorper ewes had greater body and EBW0.75 compared to Blackbelly and Pelibuey ewes (P<0.05). There was no difference for those traits between Blackbelly and Pelibuey ewes (P>0.05). Katahdin weaned heavier litters than the other breeds (P<0.05); however, there were no differences between breeds for ewe efficiency at weaning (P>0.05). Third parity ewes were more efficient than both early and late parity ewes (P<0.05). Lambing season was a significant source of variation for ewe efficiency (P<0.05). Under the conditions of this study, ewe efficiency could be increased by weaning more than one lamb.


1981 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 853-860
Author(s):  
DOMINIQUE D. RONY ◽  
MOHAMED H. FAHMY ◽  
WILFRIED B. HOLTMANN

Body weight and seven body dimensions measuring the length, height, width and depth were taken at birth and every 180 days up to 720 days of age on 49 pure Canadian, 49 first cross of 1/2 Brown Swiss 1/2 Canadian, and 30 backcross of 1/4 Brown Swiss 3/4 Canadian heifers. The animals were raised up to 180 days of age at the Deschambault Station, then half the pure Canadian and the first cross were transferred to the La Pocatière Station. At birth, the pure Canadian calves weighed 29.2 kg and were lighter than the first and backcrosses by 6.9 kg (24%) and 4.8 kg (16%), respectively. The two crosses exceeded the pure Canadian in all the dimensions, the differences being significant in height at shoulder and width at rumps. At 360 days of age the two crosses were about 6% heavier and 4% higher at shoulder than the pure Canadian. With the exception of body length after 1 yr of age in which the backcross was slightly inferior to the pure Canadian, the two crosses were generally larger than the pure Canadian, with the backcross being intermediate between the first cross and the pure Canadian. The effects of season of birth and age of dam were found to be non-significant on most of the traits studied in this experiment.


2007 ◽  
Vol 2007 ◽  
pp. 192-192
Author(s):  
Behnam Saremi ◽  
Atieh Rahimi

From birth to weaning calves tolerate most stress include metabolic stress and parturition and at new environment obtained nutrients from milk instead of mother blood. In order to successful production of calves, a set of nutritional and environmental management is needed. Calves mortality from birth to weaning is too much and cost effective for dairy industry. Instead, there is low mortality of heifers from weaning to parturition (1). Brown Swiss breed has low population in respect to Holstein in Iran. Low data is available about Brown Swiss population especially Brown Swiss calves. This study conducted to determine some information about Brown Swiss calves from birth to weaning and factors affecting economic traits at this period.


1980 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. P. Mavrogenis ◽  
A. Louca ◽  
O. W. Robison

ABSTRACTData on 792 Chios lambs born during the 1972/73 and 1973/74 lambing seasons were used to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for birth weight, weaning weight, age at weaning, pre-weaning daily gain, body weight at 5, 10, 15 and 20 weeks of age, and postweaning daily gain. Body weight at 15 weeks of age had the highest heritability estimate (0·73 ± 0·17) and that of post-weaning daily gain was also high (0·56 ± 0·15). Selection for either weight at 15 weeks or post-weaning daily gain would be expected to yield a greater response than selection for pre-weaning daily gain or weaning weight. Genetic correlations among weights and/or gains were positive (approximately 0·20). Phenotypic correlations among weights and gains were generally higher than genetic correlations. However, the correlation between pre— and post-weaning daily gain was small (0·08). Likewise, post-weaning daily gain had low correlations with all weights before 10 weeks. Age at weaning had moderate negative associations with all weights but a very low positive correlation with post-weaning daily gain.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-625
Author(s):  
A. Ali ◽  
K. Javed ◽  
I. Zahoor ◽  
K.M. Anjum

Data on 2931 Kajli lambs, born from 2007 to 2018, were used to quantify environmental and genetic effects on growth performance of Kajli sheep. Traits considered for evaluation were birth weight (BWT), 120-day adjusted weight (120DWT), 180-day adjusted weight (180DWT), 270-day adjusted weight (270DWT), and 365-day adjusted weight (365DWT). Fixed effects of year of birth, season of birth, sex, birth type, and dam age on these traits were evaluated using linear procedures of SAS, 9.1. Similarly, BWT, 120DWT, 180DWT, and 270DWT were used as fixed effects mixed model analyses. Variance components, heritability and breeding values were estimated by restricted maximum likelihood. The genetic trend for each trait was obtained by regression of the estimated breeding values (EBV) on year of birth. Analyses revealed substantial influence of birth year on all traits. Sex and birth type were the significant sources of variation for BWT and 120DWT. Season of birth did not influence birth weight meaningfully, but had a significant role in the expression of 120DWT, 180DWT, and 270DWT. Heritability estimates were generally low (0.003 ± 0.018 to 0.099 ± 0.067) for all traits. With the exception of the genetic correlation of 180DWT and 365DWT, the genetic correlations between trait were strong and positive. Only 365DWT had a positive genetic trend. Although the heritability estimates for almost all weight traits were low, high and positive genetic correlations between BWT and other weight traits suggest that selection based on BWT would result in the improvement of other weight traits as a correlated response.Keywords: bodyweight, breeding value, genetic correlation, sheep


1990 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. K. Singh ◽  
H. R. Mishra ◽  
C. S. P. Singh

ABSTRACTThe present study was carried out on 1243 kids (379 Black Bengal; 568 Jamunapari × Black Bengal and 296 Beetal × Black Bengal) born between 1981 and 1986. Data were analysed to study the influence of genetic group, sex, season of birth, type of birth, birth weight, dam's weight at kidding, filial generation and parity of dam (as covariate) on survivability of kids during the pre-weaning period (0 to 90 days of age). The overall survival rates during 0 to 15, 16 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and 0 to 90 days of age were 81·68 (s.e. 2·89), 95·55 (s.e. 2·00), 90·77 (s.e. 2·33), 93·31 (s.e. 2·59) and 69·94 (s.e. 3·65) % respectively. Variation in survival rates from 0 to 15 days of age was significant due to genetic group (P < 0·01), birth weight (P < 0·01), dam's weight at kidding and parity of dams as a covariate (P < 0·05). Season of birth (P < 0·05), weight of kids (P < 0·01) and dam's weight at kidding (P < 0·01) had significant effects on survival rate during 0 to 90 days of age. Sex and type of birth had no significant effect on survival rates. The interaction effects of genetic groups with season of birth and sex on pre-weaning survival rates were not significant in all ages except the effect between genetic group and sex during 31 to 60 days of age. An improvement in survival rates during the period of study was noticed with the increase in filial generation number from Fj to F3, although the difference was not significant except from 61 to 90 days of age (P < 0·05). Birth weight of kids had a positive linear relationship with survivability during the pre-weaning period. Summer-born kids had a significantly lower survival rate than those born in the winter and monsoon periods from 16 to 30, 61 to 90 and from 0 to 90 days of age. A negative linear relationship was observed between dam's weight at kidding and survival rates of kids from 0 to 90 days of age except the 25 to 30 kg dams deviate. Heritability estimates of survival rates during pre-weaning periods were not significantly different from zero, indicating that improvement by simple selection is probably limited.


1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Rabeya ◽  
AKFH Bhuiyan ◽  
MA Habib ◽  
MS Hossain

The present study was carried out to estimate phenotypic and genetic parameters of Red Chittagong Cattle (RCC) for growth traits. Means of birth weight (BW), three month weight (3MW), six month weight (6MW), weaning weight (WW), nine month weight (9MW) and yearling weight (YW) were 15.74, 31.48, 45.33, 57.00, 60.91 and 76.18 kg respectively. Sex significantly (p<0.001) differed BW of calves but did not differ (p>0.05) 3MW, 6MW, WW, 9MW and YW. BW, 6MW, WW, 9MW and YW did not vary significantly (p>0.05) on year of birth but varied significantly (p<0.01) on 3MW. Season of birth had significant difference on 3MW (p<0.001), 6MW (p<0.01) and WW (p<0.01) but had no significant difference (p>0.05) on BW, 9MW and YW. The growth rates at zero to six month (6MGR) and six to twelve month (12MGR) were 0.17 and 0.17 kg /d respectively. Growth rate in both stages had no significant effect (p>0.05) on sex and year of birth. 6MGR had no significant effect (p>0.05) on season of birth but had significant (p<0.05) effect on 12MGR. From single trait analyses heritability (h2) of BW, 3MW, 6MW, WW, 9MW, YW, 6MGR and 12MGR were 0.497, 0.468, 0.475, 0.467, 0.447, 0.478, 0.499 and 0.65, respectively, whereas from multi-trait analysis heritability (h2) of first four traits were 0.498, 0.456, 0.500 and 0.490, respectively. Genetic correlations of BW with 3MW, 6MW and WW were 0.23, 0.38, and 0.53, respectively, 3MW with 6MW and WW were 0.78 and 0.69, respectively and 6MW with WW was 0.76. Estimated heritability values were rather high in magnitude and indicate that these traits would likely respond to selection. Estimates of phenotypic correlations among the traits studied were very low to moderate with values ranging from -0.40 to 0.81, whereas magnitude of genetic correlation ranged from 0.23 to 0.78. It was concluded that these estimated parameters would help to understand the biology of the traits and in designing breeding programme for other indigenous cattle in general. Keywords: Phenotypic and Genetic parameters; Growth traits; Red Chittagong cattle DOI: 10.3329/jbau.v7i2.4733 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 7(2): 265-271, 2009


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 14-19
Author(s):  
R. O. Balogun ◽  
M. E. Olayemi ◽  
O .A, . Osinowo

Records on 1634 lambings of a Yankasa sheep flock collected from 1983 to 1990 were used to determine the effects of parity, litter size, sex, season and year of birth on birth weight, and that of parity, season and year of birth on litter size respectively.  Least squares means (± s.e.) for birth weight and litter size were 2.49±0.013kg and 1.22±0.010 respectively. Birth weight was significantly (P<0.01) affected by parity, sex, litter size and season of birth. Lambs born in the late wet season had higher birth weights than those born in other seasons. Also, male and single lambs were heavier at birth than female and twin lambs.  Litter size was significantly (P<0.01) affected by parity, season and year of birth. Late wet season lambing had lower litter size than other seasons.  The repeatability estimates for birth weight and litter size were 0.19±0.028 and 0.01±0.032 respectively while phenotypic correlation between the two traits was -0.249.


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