Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T00:42:31.841Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Relationships between sires' transmitting ability for production and daughters' production, food intake and efficiency in a high-yielding dairy herd

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

P. Persaud ,
G. Simm ,
H. Parkinson  and
W. G. Hill
P. Persaud
Affiliation:
Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG
G. Simm
Affiliation:
Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG
H. Parkinson
Affiliation:
Edinburgh School of Agriculture, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JG
W. G. Hill
Affiliation:
Institute of Animal Genetics, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JN
Get access

Abstract

Milk production and food intake records were available on individual animals from a high-yielding Holstein-Friesian herd in which selection had been practised on fat plus protein yield using nationally available artificial insemination sires. The relationship between sires and maternal grandsires' transmitting ability (ICC), expressed as a pedigree index (sire ICC + 0·5 maternal grandsire ICC), and offspring performance for milk production traits, food intake, and gross efficiency (milk energy (MJ)/total energy intake (MJ)) was investigated. The data comprised 475 26-week (data set 1) and 293 38-week (data set 2, a subset of 1) records, and for each data set analyses were conducted on heifers, cows and pooled lactations. Regressions of fat plus protein yield, fat yield, protein yield, and milk yield on their corresponding pedigree index were not far from the theoretical expectation (for a full lactation) of 1, for heifers (0·71 (s.e. 0·20), 0·72 (s.e. 0·20), 0·74 (s.e. 0·21) and 0·75 (s.e. 0·19), respectively), but slightly lower for the pooled lactations (0·57 (s.e. 0·20), 0·55 (s.e. 0·20), 0·67 (s.e. 0·19) and 0·64 (s.e. 0·15)) in data set 1. Regressions of fat plus protein yield, food intake and gross efficiency on pedigree index for fat plus protein yield, each trait expressed as a ratio of herd mean, were 1·31 (s.e. 0·37), 0·38 (s.e. 0·19) and 1·04 (s.e. 0·35) for heifers and 0·89 (s.e. 0·31), 0·48 (s.e. 0·18) and 0·59 (s.e. 0·26) respectively, for pooled lactations, in data set 1. Regressions for cow lactations were lower. Similar results were obtained with data set 2. In this study, a genetic increase of proportionately 0·1 in fat plus protein yield of daughters of sires of high genetic merit for fat plus protein yield, was accompanied by a proportional genetic increase of 0·029 in food intake and a 0·079 proportional genetic increase in efficiency.

Keywords

dairy cowsfood conversionfood intakeimproved contemporary comparisonmilk production
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , October 1990 , pp. 245 - 253
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Broadbent, P. J., McIntosh, J. A. R. and Spence, A. 1970. The evaluation of a device for feeding grouphoused animals individually. Animal Production 12: 245–252.Google Scholar
Cunningham, J. J. P. 1984. Efficiency of milk production in a high yielding dairy herd and its relationship to liveweight and condition score changes. M.Sc. Thesis, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Gibson, J. P. 1986. Efficiency and performance of genetically high and low milk-producing British Friesian and Jersey cattle. Animal Production 42: 161–182.Google Scholar
Hind, E. 1979. The efficiency of milk production. Animal Breeding Research Organisation Report, pp. 25–28.Google Scholar
Lamb, R. C., Walters, J. L., Anderson, M. J., Plowman, R. D., Mickelsen, C. H. and Miller, R. H. 1977. Effects of sire and interaction of sire with ration on efficiency of feed utilisation by Holsteins. Journal of Dairy Science 60: 1755–1767.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawes Agricultural Trust. 1980. GENSTAT V. Mark 4.03. Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire.Google Scholar
Maijala, K. and Hanna, M. 1974. Reliable phenotypic and genetic parameters in dairy cattle. Proceedings of the 1st World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Madrid, Vol. 1, pp. 541–563.Google Scholar
Meyer, K. 1984. Estimates of genetic parameters for milk and fat yield for the first three lactations in British Friesian cows. Animal Production 38: 313–322.Google Scholar
Meyer, K. 1988. DFREML — Programs to estimate variance components for individual animal models by restricted maximum likelihood (REML). User Notes. University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Milk Marketing Board. 1979. The improved contemporary comparison. Report of the Breeding and Production Organisation, Milk Marketing Board, No. 29, pp. 91–95.Google Scholar
Nicholas, F. W. and Smith, C. 1983. Increased rates of genetic change in dairy cattle by embryo transfer and splitting. Animal Production 36: 341–353.Google Scholar
Persaud, P., Simm, G. and Hill, W. G. 1990. Genetic parameters of feed efficiency and feed intake for dairy cattle fed ad libitum. Proceedings of the 4th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Edinburgh, Vol. 14, pp. 237–240.Google Scholar
Tyrrell, H. F. and Reid, J. T. 1965. Prediction of the energy value of cow's milk. Journal of Dairy Science 48: 1215–1223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quaas, R. L., Everett, R. W. and McClintock, A. C. 1979. Maternal grandsire model for dairy sire evaluation. Journal of Dairy Science 62: 1648–1654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar