• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.476-484
• /
• 2015

The objective of this study was to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for linear type traits, as well as milk yield (MY), fat yield (FY) and protein yield (PY) in 18,831 Holstein cows reared in 495 herds in Brazil. Restricted maximum likelihood with a bivariate model was used for estimation genetic parameters, including fixed effects of herd-year of classification, period of classification, classifier and stage of lactation for linear type traits and herd-year of calving, season of calving and lactation order effects for production traits. The age of cow at calving was fitted as a covariate (with linear and quadratic terms), common to both models. Heritability estimates varied from 0.09 to 0.38 for linear type traits and from 0.17 to 0.24 for production traits, indicating sufficient genetic variability to achieve genetic gain through selection. In general, estimates of genetic correlations between type and production traits were low, except for udder texture and angularity that showed positive genetic correlations (>0.29) with MY, FY, and PY. Udder depth had the highest negative genetic correlation (-0.30) with production traits. Selection for final score, commonly used by farmers as a practical selection tool to improve type traits, does not lead to significant improvements in production traits, thus the use of selection indices that consider both sets of traits (production and type) seems to be the most adequate to carry out genetic selection of animals in the Brazilian herd.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.5
• /
• pp.345-352
• /
• 2009

This study utilized 332,625 records of linear type scores consisting for 15 primary traits, 22,175 final score and 84,612 pedigree information of 22,175 Holstein cows from 1993 to 2007 in Korea to estimate genetic parameters for 16 type traits. Genetic and error (co)variances between two traits selected from 16 traits were estimated using bi-trait pairwise analyses with DFREML package. The estimated heritabilities for stature (ST), strength (STR), body depth (BD), dairy form (DF), rump angle (RA), thurl width (TW), rear legs side view (RLSV), foot angle (FA), fore udder attachment (FUA), rear udder height (RUH), rear udder width (RUW), udder cleft (UC), udder depth (UD), front teat placement (FTP), front teat length (FTL) and final score (FS) were 0.31, 0.21, 0.25, 0.10, 0.29, 0.19, 0.09, 0.06, 0.12, 0.13, 0.12, 0.08, 0.26, 0.20, 0.28 and 0.15, respectively. ST had the highest positive genetic correlation with BD (0.90), while RLSV had the highest negative genetic correlation with FA (-0.56). RA had negative genetic correlation with most udder traits (-0.17~-0.02). Especially, RUW had the higher positive genetic correlation with STR (0.60), BD (0.62), and TW (0.49), however, UD had the higher negative genetic correlation with STR (-0.40) and BD (-0.40). FTL had negative genetic correlation with FUA, RUH, RUW, UC and UD. FS had positive genetic correlation with UC, UD and FTP (0.12, 0.18 and 0.20). However, additional research is needed on the use of these parameters in the genetic evaluation because estimated genetic and error variance-covariance matrices were not positive definite.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
• /
• v.50 no.1
• /
• pp.167-178
• /
• 2016

This study was conducted to estimate genetic parameters for milk production and linear type traits in Holstein dairy cattle in Korea. The data including milk yields, fat yields, protein yields, fat percent, protein percent, somatic score and 15 linear type traits for 10,218 first parity cows collected by Dairy Cattle Improvement Center, National Agricultural Cooperative, Korea, which were calving from January 2009 to April 2013. Genetic and error (co)variances between two traits selected form 19 traits were estimated using bi-trait pairwise analyses with WOMBAT package. The estimated heritabilities for milk yield(MY), fat yield(FY), protein yield(PY), fat percent(FP), protein percent(PP), somatic cell score(SCS), udder depth(UD), udder texture(UT), median suspensory(MS), fore udder attachment(FUA), front teat placement (FTP), rear attachment height(RAH), rear attachment width(RAW), rear teat placement(RTP), front teat length(FTL), foot angle(FA), heel depth(HD), bone quality(BQ), rear legs side view(RLSV), rear legs rear view(RLRV) and locomotion(LC) were 0.128, 0.144, 0.100, 0.273, 0.333, 0.090, 0.179, 0.066, 0.104, 0.109, 0.127, 0.099, 0.059, 0.069, 0.154, 0.014, 0.010, 0.052, 0.065, 0.175 and 0.031, respectively. Among the genetic correlations, UD, UT, FTP, RAW, FTL, FA and RLSV with MY were -0.334, 0.271, 0.445, 0.544, 0.076, -0.281 and -0.228, respectively, and MS, FTP, RTP, FTL, FA, BQ, RLSV, RLRV and LC with PP were -0.147, -0.182, -0.262, -0.136, 0.355, 0.311, 0.135, 0.233 and 0.143, respectively. Especially, MY had the highest positive genetic correlation with RAW (0.544), while SCS had the highest negative genetic correlation with LC (-0.603). FP had negative genetic correlation with most udder traits, whereas, FP had positive genetic correlation with leg and hoof traits (0.056 - 0.355).

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.1-6
• /
• 2010

The objectives of this study were to i) investigate genetic performance for linear type traits of individual Holstein dairy cows, especially focusing on comparative traits, and to estimate genetic variances for these traits using actual data, and ii) compare genetic performance and improvement of progeny by birth country of the cows. Linear type traits defined with five comparative traits on this study were general stature composite (GSC), dairy capacity composite (DCC), body size composite (BSC), foot and leg composite (FLC), and udder composite (UDC). These traits were scored from 1 to 6 with 1 = poor, 2 = fair, 3 = good, 4 = good plus, 5 = very good and 6 = excellent. Final scores (FS) were also included in this study. Data used was collected from the years 2000 to 2004 by the Korea Animal Improvement Association (KAIA). Only data of more than five tested cows by herd appraisal date and by sires having more than ten daughters were included to increase the reliability of the data analyses. A total of 30,204 records of the selected traits, which was collected from 26,701 individuals having pedigree information were used. Herd appraisal date, year of age, lactation stage (grouped by month), and time lagged for milking (in hours) were assumed as fixed effects on the model. Animal additive genetic effects considering pedigree relationship and residual errors were assumed with random effects. Year of age at appraisal date was classified from one to nine years of age, assigning the value of nine years of age for animals that were greater than or equal to nine years of age. From our results, the estimate for heritability was 0.463, 0.346, 0.473, 0.290, and 0.430 on GSC, DCC, BSC, FLC and UDC, respectively. The estimate for FS heritability was 0.539. The greatest breeding values for GSC were estimated for Canada, with the breeding values for American lines increasing for 10 years starting in 1989 but tending to decrease after that until 2004. For DCC, the breeding values for American and Canadian lines showed similar patterns until 1999, after which the breeding values for the American lines declined sharply. For BSC, data from Korea, Canada and the USA followed similar trends overall except when the breeding values of the American lines decreased starting in 1999. Overall, the methods used to evaluate genetic performance in this study were acceptable and allowed for the discovery of differences by country of genetic origin, likely due in part to the American use of selection indexes based primarily on milk yield traits until methods for evaluating other traits began to emerge.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.21 no.5
• /
• pp.617-623
• /
• 2008

A fine-mapping method exploiting linkage disequilibrium was used to detect quantitative trait loci (QTL) on the X chromosome affecting milk production, body conformation and productivity traits. The pedigree comprised 22 paternal half-sib families of Black-and-White Holstein bulls in the Netherlands in a grand-daughter design for a total of 955 sons. Twenty-five microsatellite markers were genotyped to construct a linkage map on the chromosome X spanning 170 Haldane cM with an average inter-marker distance of 7.1 cM. A covariance matrix including elements about identical-by-descent probabilities between haplotypes regarding QTL allele effects was incorporated into the animal model, and a restricted maximum-likelihood method was applied for the presence of QTL using the LDVCM program. Significance thresholds were obtained by permuting haplotypes to phenotypes and by using a false discovery rate procedure. Seven QTL responsible for conformation types (teat length, rump width, rear leg set, angularity and fore udder attachment), behavior (temperament) and a mixture of production and health (durable prestation) were detected at the suggestive level. Some QTL affecting teat length, rump width, durable prestation and rear leg set had small numbers of haplotype clusters, which may indicate good classification of alleles for causal genes or markers that are tightly associated with the causal mutation. However, higher maker density is required to better refine the QTL position and to better characterize functionally distinct haplotypes which will provide information to find causal genes for the traits.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
• /
• v.51 no.6
• /
• pp.89-105
• /
• 2017

This study utilized 32,312 records of 17 linear type and 10 conformation traits(including final scores) of Hanwoo cows in the KAIA(Korea Animal Improvement Association) ('09~'10), with 60,556 animals in the pedigree file. Traits included stature, body length, strength, body depth, angularity, shank thickness, rump angle, rump length, pin bone width, thigh thickness, udder volume, teat length, teat placement, foot angle, hock angle, rear leg back view, body balance, breed characteristic, head development, forequarter quality, back line, rump, thigh development, udder development, leg line, and final score. Genetic and residual(co) variances were estimated using bi-trait pairwise analyses with EM-REML algorithm. Herd-year-classifier, year at classification, and calving stage were considered as fixed effects with classification months as a covariate. The heritability estimates ranged from 0.03(teat placement) to 0.42(body length). Rump length had the highest positive genetic correlation with pin bone width(0.96). Moreover, stature, body length, strength, and body depth had the highest positive genetic correlations with rump length, pin bone width, and thigh thickness(0.81-0.94). Stature, body length, strength, body depth, rump length, pin bone width, and thigh thickness traits also had high positive genetic correlations.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.4
• /
• pp.275-282
• /
• 2012

The data including milk yields, fat and protein percent for 628,395 heads collected by National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, 15 type traits and final score for 62,262 heads collected by Korea Animal Improvement Association, which were born in 1998 to 2004, and net profits calculated from milk price and raising expenses of individuals were used to estimate genetic parameters. The highest positive genetic correlation, 0.81, was shown between body depth (BD) and loin strength (SR). Genetic correlations between body depth (BD) and udder depth (UD), front teat placement (TP) and front teat length (TL) were -0.23, which were lowest among the linear type traits. Furthermore, medium level of negative genetic correlations were shown the milk yield with milk contents rate traits. Mostly low level of positive genetic correlations were shown between the milk traits and linear score traits except milk yield and stature. Most of the genetic correlations of between the linear score traits and net profit were low level of positive or negative genetic correlations. Among the genetic correlations, body depth (BD), angularity (DF) and rear attachment width (UW), and final score (FS) with net profit were high as 0.17, 0.17, 0.18 and 0.18, respectively. Finally all of the genetic correlations between net profit and milk traits were positive and higher than the linear traits with positive genetic correlations. The results of this study suggest that net profit has been related with the linear traits, such as body depth (BD), angularity (DF) and rear attachment width (UW) traits, and furthermore, milk traits including yield and contents rates influence positively and greatly on net profit.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.303-310
• /
• 2015

The study was conducted to analyze the genetic parameters of somatic cell score (SCS) of Holstein cows, which is an important indicator to udder health. Test-day records of somatic cell counts (SCC) of 305-day lactation design from first to fifth lactations were collected on Holsteins in Korea during 2000 to 2012. Records of animals within 18 to 42 months, 30 to 54 months, 42 to 66 months, 54 to 78 months, and 66 to 90 months of age at the first, second, third, fourth and fifth parities were analyzed, respectively. Somatic cell scores were calculated, and adjusted for lactation production stages by Wilmink's function. Lactation averages of SCS ($LSCS_1$ through $LSCS_5$) were derived by further adjustments of each test-day SCS for five age groups in particular lactations. Two datasets were prepared through restrictions on number of sires/herd and dams/herd, progenies/sire, and number of parities/cow to reduce data size and attain better relationships among animals. All LSCS traits were treated as individual trait and, analyzed through multiple-trait sire models and single trait animal models via VCE 6.0 software package. Herd-year was fitted as a random effect. Age at calving was regressed as a fixed covariate. The mean LSCS of five lactations were between 3.507 and 4.322 that corresponded to a SCC range between 71,000 and 125,000 cells/mL; with coefficient of variation from 28.2% to 29.9%. Heritability estimates from sire models were within the range of 0.10 to 0.16 for all LSCS. Heritability was the highest at lactation 2 from both datasets (0.14/0.16) and lowest at lactation 5 (0.11/0.10) using sire model. Heritabilities from single trait animal model analyses were slightly higher than sire models. Genetic correlations between LSCS traits were strong (0.62 to 0.99). Very strong associations (0.96 to 0.99) were present between successive records of later lactations. Phenotypic correlations were relatively weaker (<0.55). All correlations became weaker at distant lactations. The estimated breeding values (EBVs) of LSCS traits were somewhat similar over the years for a particular lactation, but increased with lactation number increment. The lowest EBV in first lactation indicated that selection for SCS (mastitis resistance) might be better with later lactation records. It is expected that results obtained from these multi-trait lactation model analyses, being the first large scale SCS data analysis in Korea, would create a good starting step for application of advanced statistical tools for future genomic studies focusing on selection for mastitis resistance in Holsteins of Korea.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.29 no.7
• /
• pp.960-964
• /
• 2016

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of reducing dietary phosphorus (P) on the frame size, udder traits, blood parameters and nutrient digestibility coefficient in 8- to 10-month-old Holstein heifers. Forty-five heifers were divided into 15 blocks according to the mo of age and were randomly assigned one of three dietary treatments: 0.26% (low P [LP]), 0.36% (medium P [MP]), or 0.42% (high P [HP]) (dry matter basis). Samples were collected at the wk 1, 4, 8. The results show that low dietary P had no effect on body measurement. The blood P concentration decreased with decreasing dietary P (p<0.05), while the blood calcium content of LP was higher than that of the MP and HP groups (p<0.05), though still in the normal range. The serum contents of alkalinephosphatase, potassium, and magnesium were similar among the treatments. No differences were found in all nutrients' apparent digestibility coefficients with varied dietary P. However, with P diet decreased from HP to LP, the total fecal P and urine P concentration declined significantly, as did fecal water soluble P (p<0.05). In conclusion, reducing the dietary P from 0.42% to 0.26% did not negatively affect the heifers' growth performance but did significantly lessen manure P excretion into the environment.

• Animal Bioscience
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.1110-1120
• /
• 2024

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of offering (OSF) or not (NSF) supplemental feed at milking on temperament (TS), udder hygiene (UHS) and body condition (BCS) scores, and milk yield per milking (MYM), milk quality traits, and profitability of primiparous Anatolian buffalo cows at 90 days of lactation confined in closed-tied (CB) or semi-open free-stall (OB) barns. Methods: In Experiment I, 108 cows were selected to encompass four treatments (OBOSF, OB-NSF, CB-OSF, and CB-NSF) of 27 cows, considering barn type (OB and CB) and supplementary feed (OSF and NSF) at milking. In Experiment II, 60 OB cows were selected to encompass one of five groups of 12 cows each: i) no supplemental feed (CON), ii) commercial concentrate (CC), iii) CC + corn silage (CCS), iv) CCS + alfalfa hay (CSA), or v) CC + ryegrass silage (CRS) at milking. Results: The TS and UHS of the OB and OSF cows were lower (better) than those of the CB and NSF cows, respectively. The OSF increased milk protein, lactose, and solids-not-fat but decreased milk freezing point and electrical conductivity compared with the NSF. The MYM and milk fat of the OB-OSF cows were higher than those of the OB-NSF and CBNSF cows. The TS and UHS of the cows negatively correlated with MYM and some milk chemicals (fat, protein, and solids-not-fat), but BCS correlated positively. The TS and milk electrical conductivity of the CCS, CSA, and CRS cows were lower than those of the CON and CC cows, but BCS, MYM, and milk fat were higher. Partial budget analysis identified a higher net profit for supplemental feed-offered groups (OB-OSF, CCS, CSA, and CRS). Conclusion: Offering roughage with concentrates at milking for indoor primiparous buffalo cows is more conducive to well-being, milk yield, milk quality, and economy.