Abstract
Abstract. Genetic parameters were estimated for stillbirth, calving ease and gestation length in three endangered Austrian blond cattle breeds, Carinthian Blond, Murboden and Waldviertel Blond. REML analysis based on an animal model including direct and maternal genetic effects was applied. Direct heritability estimates for calving ease, stillbirth and gestation length varied from 0.003 to 0.111, 0.006 to 0.044 and 0.235 to 0.512, respectively, while maternal heritabilities ranged from 0.001 to 0.007 for calving ease, 0.005 to 0.014 for stillbirth, and 0.002 to 0.063 for gestation length. All pairwise genetic correlations for direct traits were generally moderate to high except for stillbirth-calving ease (−0.077, Carinthian Blond). The genetic correlations of all pairs of the 3 direct traits were positive for Murboden (0.520 to 0.700) and Waldviertel Blond (0.253 to 0.707) while negative genetic correlations were detected for Carinthian Blond (−0.077 to −0.943). Close positive genetic correlations were found between direct stillbirth and calving ease of Murboden (0.700) and between direct calving ease and gestation length of Waldviertel Blond (0.707), while a close negative genetic correlation was found between direct calving ease and gestation length of Carinthian Blond (−0.943).
Highlights
Carinthian Blond (CB), Murboden (MU) and Waldviertel Blond (WB) are considered as highly endangered autochthonous cattle breeds in Austria (DUCHEV et al 2006, ÖNGENE 2008)
WB are cream to rust-coloured cattle raised in the federal state Lower Austria
CB showed the highest stillbirth rate (0.32%) in this study, but this value can still be considered as very low compared to other breeds where stillbirth ranged between 2 to 13 percent (MEYER et al 2001, FUERST and EGGER-DANNER 2003, FÜRST and FÜRST-WALTL 2006)
Summary
Carinthian Blond (CB), Murboden (MU) and Waldviertel Blond (WB) are considered as highly endangered autochthonous cattle breeds in Austria (DUCHEV et al 2006, ÖNGENE 2008). CB has been developed in the federal state Carinthia and Styria since the late 18th century by crossing with Hungarian gray and alpine cattle. In the early 20th century, CB was crossed with Franconian, Simmental and Red and White cattle breeds. WB are cream to rust-coloured cattle raised in the federal state Lower Austria. In the 19th century WB was crossed with MU, Franconian cattle and Glan-Donnerberger breeds. In early 20th century, WB was gradually replaced by Simmental cattle for better milk production (MANATRINON et al 2008). MU was raised in Styria, parts of Carinthia, Lower Austria and Slovenia. MU cattle were very popular before the Second World War; afterwards they were replaced by other breeds, or were crossed with Franconian cattle
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