Environmental Correlations among Paternal Half-Sisters for Type

Abstract

Official final scores, scorecard, and descriptive type classifications recorded by the Holstein-Friesian Association from January 1, 1967, through June 30, 1974, were used to estimate environmental correlations among paternal sisters. Single records on 330,740 daughters of 2,434 sires were used. Each sire had at least 20 daughters in five or more herds. Final score and the scorecard traits were adjusted for age. Differences among herds were ignored. Correlations were estimated from differences of intraclass correlations among paternal sisters in one herd from those of one daughter in each herd, differences between product-moment correlations among paternal sisters in same and different herds, and the intra-herd correlation among daughters of the same sire. Methods yielded similar correlations ranging from .16 to .18 for final score, .13 to .16 for general appearance, .09 to .14 for dairy character, .11 to .17 for body capacity, and .11 to .13 for mammary system. Most environmental correlations for descriptive traits were less than .10 as stature, head, front end, and feet ranged from .06 to .15, and rear legs and udder support and floor ranged from .02 to .08.