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Factors affecting calving difficulty and gestation length in cows mated to Chianina bulls and factors affecting the birth weight of their calves

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

A. Wilson ,
M. B. Willis  and
C. Davison
A. Wilson
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
M. B. Willis
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU
C. Davison
Affiliation:
Farmers Livestock Services, Town End Farm, Gosforth, Cumbria
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Summary

Imported semen from 10 Italian Chianina bulls was used to inseminate beef and dairy cattle throughout England and Southern Scotland. A total of 2134 records of calving performance were subjected to least squares analyses. Dystocia score was significantly affected by county of birth, parity of dam, sire, type of birth, birth weight (P < 0·001), season of birth and sex of calf (P < 0·01). There were no significant effects of breed or size of cow. Serious dystocia was encountered in 3% of calvings, with the incidence for individual sires ranging from 1·7% to 6·7%. Arithmetic mean gestation length was 284·2 days and it was significantly affected by county, sire (P < 0·05), sex of calf (P < 0·01), and type of birth (P < 0·001). Arithmetic mean birth weight of the calves was 41·2 kg and this was significantly affected by all main effects studied except season of birth and type of herd.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , February 1976 , pp. 27 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1976

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