Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T20:41:16.600Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The incidence, repeatability and effect on dam performance of twinning in British Friesian cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

J. C. Bowman  and
C. R. C. Hendy
J. C. Bowman
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire
C. R. C. Hendy
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire
Get access

Summary

An estimate of the frequency of twin calvings was obtained from the analysis of over 38 000 calvings of Friesian cows in M.M.B. milk-recorded herds. The incidence of twinning increased from 0·54 % in the first parity to 3·37% in the fifth parity. A significant excess of cows above expected produced either more than one set of twins or no twins at all. Repeatability ranged from 0·0 for cows with three calvings to 0·063 for cows with five calvings.

Data on lactation yield and duration, butterfat percentage and calving interval showed no significant effect of twinning. However, consistent trends were noted showing that dams which calve twins have longer subsequent lactations, higher whole lactation yields and lower fat percentages than contemporary dams with single calves. The possible causes for these trends are discussed and are considered to be the lower breeding efficiency and longer calving intervals of dams of twins.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , February 1970 , pp. 55 - 62
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1970

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

Boyd, H. and Reed, H. C. B. 1961. Investigations into the incidence and causes of in-fertility in dairy cattle. 1. Fertility variations. 2. Influence of some management factors affecting the semen and insemination conditions. 3. The influence of kale feeding, milk production and management factors associated with farming intensity. Br. vet. J. 117: 18–35; 74–86; 192–200.Google Scholar
Cloninger, W. H. and Thoele, H. W. 1957. Some relationships between twin births and milk production and breeding efficiency. J. Dairy Sci. 40: 630 (Abstr. No. P 83).Google Scholar
Erb, R. E. and Morrison, R. A. 1959. Effects of twinning on reproductive efficiency in a Holstein-Friesian herd. J. Dairy Sci. 42: 512–519.Google Scholar
Gordon, I., Williams, G. and Edwards, J. 1962. The use of serum gonadotrophin (P.M.S.) in the induction of twin-pregnancy in the cow. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 59: 143–197.Google Scholar
Hendy, C. R. C. and Bowman, J. C. 1970. Twinning in cattle. Anim. Breed. Abstr. (in press).Google Scholar
Johansson, I. 1962. Genetic aspects of dairy cattle breeding. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Korkman, N. 1948. Genetic variation in the frequency of multiple births in cattle. Hereditas 34: 23–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maijala, K. 1964. Fertility as a breeding problem in artificially bred populations of dairy cattle. 1. Registration and heritability of female fertility. Ann. Agric. fenn. 3, Supple-mentum 1. 94 pp.Google Scholar
Pfau, K. O., Bartlett, J. W. and Shuart, C. E. 1948. A study of multiple births in a Holstein-Friesian herd. J. Dairy Sci. 31: 241–253.Google Scholar