Relationships between progeny residual feed intake and dam productivity traits

Abstract

Two hundred and twenty-two yearling calves and their dams were used to examine the phenotypic (rp) relationships between progeny residual feed intake (RFI) and maternal productivity across 10 production cycles. Progeny RFI ranged from -3.95 to +2.72 kg as fed d-1 (SD = 0.94), while RFI adjusted for off-test backfat thickness (RFIadj), ranged from -2.48 to +1.53 kg as fed d-1 (SD = 0.88). Progeny RFI and RFIadj were unrelated to on-test age, body weight, growth rate, and ultrasound longissimus thoracis area and positively related to feed intake (rp = 0.51 to 0.53; P < 0.001), feed to gain ratio (rp = 0.44 to 0.46; P < 0.001), feeding behaviour traits (rp = 0.29 to 0.36; P < 0.001) and cow RFI (rp = 0.30, P < 0.05). Progeny RFI was positively related to measures of body fat (rp = 0.21 to 0.27; P < 0.05), but these relationships disappeared when RFI was adjusted for off-test backfat thickness. Cows that had produced LOW (≤ 0.5 SD), MEDIUM (± 0.5 SD) or HIGH (≥ 0.5 SD) RFIadj progeny were similar in pregnancy (95.6 vs. 95.3 vs. 96.0%, P = 0.90), calving (84.9 vs. 83.4 vs. 86.3%, P = 0.62) and weaning (81.5 vs. 80.2 vs. 82.3%, P = 0.79) rates. However, cows that produced HIGH RFIadj progeny had a higher twinning rate (3.77 vs. 0.35 vs. 0.00%, P < 0.001) and an increased calf death loss (8.06 vs. 4.24 vs. 4.02%, P = 0.10) compared with cows that produced MEDIUM or LOW RFIadj progeny. Cow body weight over 10 production cycles was similar at weaning, pre-calving and pre-breeding for dams that had produced LOW, MEDIUM and HIGH RFIadj progeny, and dams that produced LOW RFIadj progeny consistently averaged 2–3 mm more back fat thickness than dams that produced HIGH RFIadj progeny. Calf birth weight, pre-weaning ADG and 200-d weight, and cow production efficiency and calving interval were similar among dams that produced LOW, MEDIUM and HIGH RFIadj progeny. In addition, dams that produced LOW RFIadj progeny consumed less feed during their second trimester of pregnancy (10.9 vs. 11.6 vs. 12.2 kg DM d-1, P < 0.05), had lower RFI values (-0.05 vs. 0.44 vs. 1.88 kg as fed d-1, P = 0.018) and calved later in the year (96 vs. 90 vs. 91 d Julian, P < 0.001) than dams that produced MEDIUM and HIGH RFIadj progeny. These results showed that efficient RFI progeny and dams consumed less feed, had improved feed to gain ratio and spent less time in feed activity than inefficient cows and calves. In addition, cows that produced efficient calves were fatter, had fewer twins, less calf death loss and produced the same weight of calf weaned per cow exposed to breeding compared with cows that produced inefficient progeny. However, cows that produced efficient or low RFI progeny calved 5–6 d later in the year than cows that produced inefficient or high RFI progeny, indicating a need to monitor reproductive fitness in low RFI replacement heifers and breeding bulls. Key words: Residual feed intake, cow reproduction, lifetime production efficiency