Full text in pdf format

Comparative performance of six Holstein-Friesian x Guzera grades in Brazil. 9. Stayability, herd life and reasons for disposal

AM. Lemos^I; R.L. Teodoro^I; F.E. Madalena^II

^IEMBRAPA, Centro Nacional de Pesquisa-Gado de Leite, 36155-000 Coronel Pacheco, MG, Brasil
^IIEPAMIG, Departamento de Zootecnia, Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Caixa Postal 567, 30161-970 Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil. Send correspondence to F.E.M.

ABSTRACT

As part of a more comprehensive crossbreeding trial, herd survival traits were studied in 527 females of six crossbred Holstein-Friesian (HF) x Guzera groups (1/4, 1 /2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 and > 31 /32 HF) on 67 farms in the southeast region of Brazil, grouped into high vs. low management levels, with 133 and 394 heifers each. Heifers were distributed to farms at 22 months of age and recorded up to 12 years of age. Percentages of parous females in high management, for the six groups in the above order, were 96.6, 95.8, 100.0, 89.4, 96.3, and 100.0, and for low management, 89.6,95.5,81.8,88.1,85.9 and 71.9. Percenta ges of first calvers completing five lactations in high management were 21.4, 87.0, 23.5, 82.4, 61.5, and 64.7, and in low management, 26.7, 74.6, 33.3, 54.2, 38.2 and 26.1. Mean number of lactations in high management were 4.0, 8.5, 4.1, 6.7, 5.6 and 6.4, and in low management, 3.8, 6.0, 3.6, 4.5, 3.7 and 3.2. The F₁ group had a lower frequency of non-parous heifers, longer herd life and a higher number of lactations. They were culled less intensely than the other groups and had the lowest mortality rates, along with the 1 /4 HF group. These measures of performance declined with increasing HF fractions, particularly in low management. The 1/4 and the 5/8 groups, although showing low mortality rates, were culled heavily, mainly because of low yield, particularly in high management. No clear trends between groups were apparent for the frequencies of cows disposed of due to mastitis and reproductive problems, but the frequencies of disposals due to accident, health and other causes, which were similar for 1/4 and F₁, tended to increase with HF fractions above 1/2.

Keywords: Holstein-Friesian; Guzera; stayability; herd life.

REFERENCES

Allaire, F.R. (1981). Economic consequences of replacing cows with genetically improved heifers. J. Dairy Sci. 64: 1985-1995.

Amble, V.N. and Jain, J.P. (1967). Comparative performance of different grades of crossbred cows on military farms in India. J. Dairy Sci. 50: 1695-1702.

Dekkers, J.C.M. and Jairath, L.K. (1994). Requirements and uses of genetic evaluations for conformation and herd life. Proceedings of the 5th World Congress of Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Guelph, Canadá, 17: 61-68.

Dentine, M.R., McDaniel, B.T. and Norman, H.D. (1987). Comparison of culling rates, reasons for disposal and yields for registered and grade Holsteins. J. Dairy Sci. 70: 2616-2622.

Franklin, I.R., Clarke, R.W. and Morgan, R.M. (1976). The effects of culling on production in dairy cattle. Proc. Aust. Soc. Anim. Prod. 11: 509-512.

Hinks, C.J.M. (1966). Selection practices patterns in dairy herds. 2. Selection patterns in later lactations. Anim. Prod. 8: 481-488.

Joviano, R., Carneiro, G.G., Memoria, I.M.P., Gilvan, R.P.C., Costa, R.V. and Chachamovits, N. (1963). Formação de um rebanho mestiço Jersey e sua eficiência reprodutiva. Arq. Esc. Vet. Univ. Fed. de Minas Gerais 25: 121-128.

Lemos, A.M., Teodoro, R.L., Barbosa, R.T., Freitas, A.F.F. and Madalena, F.E. (1984). Comparative performance of six Holstein-Friesian x Guzera grades in Brazil. 1. Gestation length and birth weight. Anim. Prod. 38: 157-164.

Madalena, F.E. (1989). Cattle breed resource utilization for dairy production in Brazil. In: Utilization of Animal Genetic Resources in Latin America (Duarte, F.A.M., Madalena, F.E. and Lôbo, R.B., eds.). Proceedings of the International Symposium, Sept. 4-9,1989, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil. Rev. Bras. Genet. 12 (Suppl.): 183-220.

Madalena, F.E., Lemos, A.M., Teodoro, R.L., Barbosa, R.T. and Monteiro, J.B.N. (1990). Dairy production and reproduction in Holstein-Friesian and Guzera crosses. J. Dairy Sci. 73: 1872-1886.

McAllister, A.J. (1986). The role of crossbreeding in breeding programs for intensive milk production in temperate climates. Proceedings of the 3rd World Congress of Genetics Applied to Livestock Production 9 (Lincoln): 47-61.

Osman, A.H. and Russell, W.S. (1974). Comparative performance of different grades of European-Zebu crossbred cattle in Ghurashi Dairy Farm, Sudan. Trop. Agric. 51: 549-558.

Ponce de León, R. and Guzmán, G. (1993). Relación entre la supervivencia de vacas y la producción en primera lactancia. Correlaciones genéticas y entre valores genéticos. Rev. Cubana Cienc. Agric. 27: 17-24.

Renkema, J.A. and Stelwagen, J. (1979). Economic evaluation of replacement rates in dairy herds. I. Reduction of replacement rates through improved health. Livest. Prod. Sci. 6: 15-27.

Scheffé, H. (1959). The Analysis of Variance. J. Wiley & Sons, London, pp. 436.

Silva, H.C.M., Wilcox, C.J., Spurlock, A.H., Martin, F.G. and Becker, R.B. (1986). Factors affecting age at first parturition, life span, and vital statistics of Florida dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci. 69: 470-476.

Soares, F.F., Farias, A.A. and Cesar, C.C. (1991). Introdução à Estatística. Editora Guanabara, Rio de Janeiro, pp. 378.

Thorpe, W., Morris, C. and Kang'ethe, P. (1994). Crossbreeding Ayrshire, Brown Swiss, and Sahiwal cattle for annual and lifetime milk yield in the lowland Tropics of Kenya. J. Dairy Sci. 77: 2415-2427.

Vaccaro, L.P. (1990). Survival of European dairy breeds and their crosses with Zebus in the Tropics. Anim. Breed. Abstr., 58: 475-494.

Westell, R.A., Burnside, E.B. and Schaeffer, L.R. (1982). Evaluation of Canadian Holstein-Friesian sires on disposal reasons of their daughters. J. Dairy Sci. 65: 2366-2372.