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Maternal body composition in seedstock herds. 4. Genetic parameters for body composition of Angus and Hereford cows
- Source :
- Animal Production Science. 58:145
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- CSIRO Publishing, 2018.
-
Abstract
- The genetics of body composition traits measured before calving and at weaning in the first and second parities were evaluated in 5975 Angus and 1785 Hereford cows. Traits measured were liveweight, body condition score and hip height and ultrasound scanned measurements of subcutaneous P8 and 12/13th rib fat depth, loin eye muscle area and intramuscular fat percentage. Corresponding yearling measures on these animals were obtained for analyses of relationships between yearling information with later-in-life traits. There was moderate genetic variation in all body composition traits measured at pre-calving and weaning in Angus (h2 = 0.14–0.59) and Hereford (h2 = 0.14–0.64) cows. Genetic correlations between measurements of the same trait at pre-calving and weaning were consistently positive and high in both parities for both breeds, indicating animals were ranking similarly for the same trait measured over time. Genetic correlations between measurements of different traits were generally consistent over time (pre-calving and weaning) in both breeds, indicating genetic relationships between traits were not changing significantly over time. Genetic correlations with corresponding yearling measures of body composition were consistently positive and high for the first parity, and lower for the second parity. The results of this study indicate that genetic improvement in body composition traits in cows is possible, and that body composition information recorded at yearling age is a reasonably good predictor of later in life performance for these traits.
- Subjects :
- 040301 veterinary sciences
business.industry
0402 animal and dairy science
Ice calving
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
Biology
Loin
040201 dairy & animal science
Biotechnology
0403 veterinary science
Animal science
Genetic variation
Herd
Trait
Environmental management system
Weaning
Animal Science and Zoology
Intramuscular fat
business
Food Science
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 18360939
- Volume :
- 58
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Animal Production Science
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........773f5776eca01ba1ea416fa63dcce6f9
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1071/an13258