Determination the Body Condition and the Relationship with Milk Yield of Turkish Holstein Cows

Aşkın Galiç

doi:10.15832/ankutbd.385869

Abstract

It is quite important to keep the condition of cows under surveillance due to conduct of nutritional programs in dairy herds as well as genetic relations with other traits. This study was conducted to estimate the heritability of body condition score (BCS) and genetic correlation with milk yield of Holstein cows. Also, the effects of herd, lactation period and calving age on BCS were investigated. For this aim, body conditions of 1001 cows were scored using the scale of 1-9. The average BCS was determined as 5.52±0.04 and were ranged from 4.54 to 6.58 at different periods of lactation. Results showed that body conditions were affected by the lactation period significantly, while the effects of herd and calving age on BCS were not significant. Estimate of heritability of BCS was 0.20, while the genetic correlation of BCS with milk yield was moderately negative (−0.41) indicating that high-producing cows tend to be leaner. The relationships with other traits currently used to improve type and fertility of animals need to be investigated before including BCS in the selection index of the Turkish Holstein breed.

Highlights

Bovine meat and milk are essential to meet the need for animal protein that is indispensable for human beings
Energy balance in dairy cattle can be defined as the difference between the energy taken into the body and the energy being used for the functions of daily living and for yield (Koenen et al 2001)
body condition score (BCS) is expected to become more important in animal breeding programs because the heritability is medium, and it shows low to medium genetic correlation with economically important traits

Summary

Introduction

Bovine meat and milk are essential to meet the need for animal protein that is indispensable for human beings. Holstein is globally the most widely reared cattle breed. A variety of studies on animal breeding have traditionally focused on the milk yield as well as the fat and protein content of the milk (Gallo et al 2001). Energy balance in dairy cattle can be defined as the difference between the energy taken into the body and the energy being used for the functions of daily living and for yield (Koenen et al 2001). Energy balance is negative during the early stages of lactation, which is regarded as normal for mammals (Robinson 1986; Berglund & Danell 1987)

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Conclusion