Genetic relationships of body condition score and locomotion with production, type and fertility traits in Holstein-Friesian cows

New traits are sought to add in breeding goals to prevent worsening health and fertility of Polish Holstein-Friesian cows. The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for body condition score (BCS) and locomotion (LOC) and their relationship with other type traits, milk and fert...

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Main Authors: W. Jagusiak, E. Ptak, A. Otwinowska-Mindur, A. Zarnecki
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2023-06-01
Series:Animal
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S175173112300112X
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author W. Jagusiak
E. Ptak
A. Otwinowska-Mindur
A. Zarnecki
author_facet W. Jagusiak
E. Ptak
A. Otwinowska-Mindur
A. Zarnecki
author_sort W. Jagusiak
collection DOAJ
description New traits are sought to add in breeding goals to prevent worsening health and fertility of Polish Holstein-Friesian cows. The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for body condition score (BCS) and locomotion (LOC) and their relationship with other type traits, milk and fertility traits, and to show genetic trends for BCS and LOC in Polish Holstein-Friesian population. Data on 317 028 Holstein-Friesian cows, born from 2010 through 2015 in 11 792 herds, were collected. All cows were scored for BCS and 43% of them for LOC. All records comprised lactational yields of milk, fat and protein, content of fat and protein and somatic cell count from the first three lactations, stature, five composite and 16 linear conformation traits, and four fertility traits. Genetic parameters were estimated using a Bayesian method with Gibbs Sampling, generating 100 000 samples in each of four steps: BCS and LOC with five composite conformation traits, BCS and LOC with 16 linear conformation traits, BCS and LOC with production traits, and BCS and LOC with four fertility traits. The linear model for BCS and LOC contained fixed effects of herd-year-season-classifier and lactation stage, fixed linear and quadratic regressions on age at calving, fixed linear regression on the percentage of Holstein-Friesian genes, and random additive genetic effect. Breeding values for BCS and LOC were calculated using the same model as used for estimation of genetic parameters. Genetic trends for BCS and LOC, defined as regression coefficients of mean breeding value on birth year, were examined. BCS was a moderately heritable trait (0.19) and was genetically correlated with non-return rate until 56 days after first insemination for cows (−0.32) and with days open (−0.22), so selection for BCS might have a favourable correlated effect on fertility. LOC, lowly heritable (0.06), was relatively strongly genetically correlated with feet-and-legs traits (from 0.48 to 0.93, ignoring sign) and could be included in a selection subindex for feet-and-legs. The positive trend for LOC indicated substantial progress towards the highest genetic value (optimum at the end of the scale), while the small trend for BCS showed a tendency to stabilise the average value in the middle of the scale (optimum for BCS). The estimates of the genetic parameters for BCS and LOC indicate that both traits could contribute to more effective selection to improve fertility (BCS) and legs health (LOC) in the Polish dairy cattle population.
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spelling doaj.art-c5dac4cbb044455da7509d6005d9bf4b2023-06-16T05:09:04ZengElsevierAnimal1751-73112023-06-01176100816Genetic relationships of body condition score and locomotion with production, type and fertility traits in Holstein-Friesian cowsW. Jagusiak0E. Ptak1A. Otwinowska-Mindur2A. Zarnecki3Department of Genetics, Animal Breeding and Ethology, University of Agriculture in Krakow, al. Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059 Krakow, Poland; Corresponding author.Department of Genetics, Animal Breeding and Ethology, University of Agriculture in Krakow, al. Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059 Krakow, PolandDepartment of Genetics, Animal Breeding and Ethology, University of Agriculture in Krakow, al. Mickiewicza 24/28, 30-059 Krakow, PolandNational Research Institute of Animal Production, ul. Krakowska 1, 32-083 Balice, PolandNew traits are sought to add in breeding goals to prevent worsening health and fertility of Polish Holstein-Friesian cows. The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for body condition score (BCS) and locomotion (LOC) and their relationship with other type traits, milk and fertility traits, and to show genetic trends for BCS and LOC in Polish Holstein-Friesian population. Data on 317 028 Holstein-Friesian cows, born from 2010 through 2015 in 11 792 herds, were collected. All cows were scored for BCS and 43% of them for LOC. All records comprised lactational yields of milk, fat and protein, content of fat and protein and somatic cell count from the first three lactations, stature, five composite and 16 linear conformation traits, and four fertility traits. Genetic parameters were estimated using a Bayesian method with Gibbs Sampling, generating 100 000 samples in each of four steps: BCS and LOC with five composite conformation traits, BCS and LOC with 16 linear conformation traits, BCS and LOC with production traits, and BCS and LOC with four fertility traits. The linear model for BCS and LOC contained fixed effects of herd-year-season-classifier and lactation stage, fixed linear and quadratic regressions on age at calving, fixed linear regression on the percentage of Holstein-Friesian genes, and random additive genetic effect. Breeding values for BCS and LOC were calculated using the same model as used for estimation of genetic parameters. Genetic trends for BCS and LOC, defined as regression coefficients of mean breeding value on birth year, were examined. BCS was a moderately heritable trait (0.19) and was genetically correlated with non-return rate until 56 days after first insemination for cows (−0.32) and with days open (−0.22), so selection for BCS might have a favourable correlated effect on fertility. LOC, lowly heritable (0.06), was relatively strongly genetically correlated with feet-and-legs traits (from 0.48 to 0.93, ignoring sign) and could be included in a selection subindex for feet-and-legs. The positive trend for LOC indicated substantial progress towards the highest genetic value (optimum at the end of the scale), while the small trend for BCS showed a tendency to stabilise the average value in the middle of the scale (optimum for BCS). The estimates of the genetic parameters for BCS and LOC indicate that both traits could contribute to more effective selection to improve fertility (BCS) and legs health (LOC) in the Polish dairy cattle population.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S175173112300112XConformationDairy cattleGenetic parametersGenetic trendReproduction
spellingShingle W. Jagusiak
E. Ptak
A. Otwinowska-Mindur
A. Zarnecki
Genetic relationships of body condition score and locomotion with production, type and fertility traits in Holstein-Friesian cows
Animal
Conformation
Dairy cattle
Genetic parameters
Genetic trend
Reproduction
title Genetic relationships of body condition score and locomotion with production, type and fertility traits in Holstein-Friesian cows
title_full Genetic relationships of body condition score and locomotion with production, type and fertility traits in Holstein-Friesian cows
title_fullStr Genetic relationships of body condition score and locomotion with production, type and fertility traits in Holstein-Friesian cows
title_full_unstemmed Genetic relationships of body condition score and locomotion with production, type and fertility traits in Holstein-Friesian cows
title_short Genetic relationships of body condition score and locomotion with production, type and fertility traits in Holstein-Friesian cows
title_sort genetic relationships of body condition score and locomotion with production type and fertility traits in holstein friesian cows
topic Conformation
Dairy cattle
Genetic parameters
Genetic trend
Reproduction
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S175173112300112X
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AT aotwinowskamindur geneticrelationshipsofbodyconditionscoreandlocomotionwithproductiontypeandfertilitytraitsinholsteinfriesiancows
AT azarnecki geneticrelationshipsofbodyconditionscoreandlocomotionwithproductiontypeandfertilitytraitsinholsteinfriesiancows