The use of linear evaluation of the conformation of the daughters of sires in breeding work

Abstract

Breeding work aimed at improving the body type of cattle is of a big importance for improving the efficiency of dairy cattle breeding, since harmoniously built animals are characterized by high milk productivity, long-term economic use and are in significant demand on the market of breeding products. Linear evaluation of the body type of dairy cattle has become very popular and is widely used to assess the appearance of animals in many countries with highly developed cattle breeding (USA, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, etc.). Many researchers use a linear evaluation method for evaluating the body type of cows of different origins obtained both by crossbreeding with improving breeds, and for evaluating sires on the quality of offspring. In the Omsk region scientific research on the use of linear evaluation of the body type of daughters of sires has been carried out in order to further assess their breeding qualities. The purpose of the research was to study the conformation features of first-calf heifers have been obtained from different sires evaluated using the method of linear evaluation of body type. The experimental part of the work has been carried out in breeding farms in the Omsk region: JSC “Razdolnoe” of the Russian-Polyansky district and JSC “Azovskoye” of the Azov district. It has been established that the sire directly determines the conformation features of the daughters, which in turn affects their milk productivity, health and ease of calving.