Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T05:25:06.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evaluation of eleven cattle breeds for crossbred beef production: performance of progeny up to 13 months of age

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

R. L. Baker ,
A. H. Carter ,
C. A. Morris  and
D. L. Johnson
R. L. Baker
Affiliation:
MAFTech, New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ruakura Agricultural Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
A. H. Carter
Affiliation:
MAFTech, New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ruakura Agricultural Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
C. A. Morris
Affiliation:
MAFTech, New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ruakura Agricultural Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
D. L. Johnson
Affiliation:
MAFTech, New Zealand Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Ruakura Agricultural Centre, Hamilton, New Zealand
Get access

Abstract

Eleven sire breeds were evaluated in New Zealand from the performance of their calves at two sites using Aberdeen-Angus cows, and at a third site using Angus and Hereford cows. The experiment was carried out over 5 years, generating a total of 4519 calves by 161 different sires. There were seven recently imported sire breeds, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Charolais, Chianina, Limousin, Maine Anjou, Simmental (including strains from four countries) and South Devon, and four local breeds, Angus, Friesian, Hereford and Jersey. Overall, 92% of calves survived at birth and through to weaning, with a range from 86% for the Charolais sire breed to 96% for the Friesian and Jersey breeds. The proportion of calves (from cows aged 3 years and over) experiencing birth difficulty averaged 8·6% and ranged from 17·7% for the Charolais, 15·1% for the Chianina and 13·7% for the Maine Anjou, to 2·3% for the Hereford and 0·9% for the Jersey. Birth weights by sire breed had a range of 7·2 kg, proportionally 0·23 of the mean for the Hereford × Angus cross. The birth weights of calves by imported sire breds were greater than those of calves sired by local breeds by 4·7 kg. Sire breeds were ranked in approximately the same order for the weights of calves at weaning (5 months of age) and at 13 months of age. As a proportion of the mean for the Hereford × Angus crosses, there was a range due to sire breed of 0×17 for weaning weight and 013 for 13-month weight. As a group, the imported sire breeds had calves with 13-month weights 11·5 kg heavier than Hereford × Angus or 250kg heavier than straightbred Angus calves; proportionally these advantages in weight were 005 and 011, respectively. There was no evidence of any major interaction between sire breed and location. The heritability estimates ranged from 0·01 to 0·05 for calving difficulty and survival traits, from 0·13 to 0·33 for live weights and from 0·06 to 0·12 for pre-weaning live-weight gains. For gestation length the estimate was 0·48.

Keywords

beef cattlebirth weightcrossbreedingdystociagrowth rateheritability
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 50 , Issue 1 , February 1990 , pp. 63 - 77
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Baker, R. L., Carter, A. H., Morris, C. A., Johnson, D. L. and Hunter, J. C. 1986. Reciprocal crossbreeding of Angus and Hereford cattle. 1. Growth of heifers and steers from birth to the yearling stage. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 29: 421–431.Google Scholar
Barlow, R. and O'Neill, G. H. 1980. Performance of Hereford and crossbred Hereford cattle in the subtropics of New South Wales: genetic analyses of pre-weaning performance of first-cross calves. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 31: 417–427.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carter, A. H. 1972. Exotic beef breeds. New Zealand Journal of Agriculture 125:(3), 56–65.Google Scholar
Carter, A. H., Muller, J. P. E. and Baker, R. L. 1975. Exotic breeds for beef herds: preliminary results. Proceedings of the Ruakura Farmers' Conference, pp. 19–24.Google Scholar
Cundiff, L. V., Gregory, K. E. and Koch, R. M. 1982. Selection for increased survival from birth to weaning. Proceedings of the 2nd World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Madrid, Vol. 5, pp. 310–337.Google Scholar
Cundiff, L. V., Gregory, K. E. and Long, C. R. 1975. Genetic variation among and within herds of Angus and Hereford Cattle. Journal of Animal Science 41: 1270–1280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cundiff, L. V., MacNeil, M. D., Gregory, K. E. and Koch, R. M. 1986. Between- and within-breed genetic analysis of calving traits and survival to weaning in beef cattle. Journal of Animal Science 63: 27–33.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Everitt, G. C., Jury, K. E., Dalton, D. C. and Ward, J. D. B. 1978. Beef production from the dairy herd. I. Calving records from Friesian cows mated to Friesian and beef breed bulls. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 21: 197–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, K. E., Cundiff, L. V. and Koch, R. M. 1982. Comparison in crossbreeding systems and breeding stocks used in suckling herds of continental and temperate areas. Proceedings of the 2nd World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, Madrid, Vol. 5, pp. 482–503.Google Scholar
Koch, R. M., Dickerson, G. E., Cundiff, L. V. and Gregory, K. E. 1985. Heterosis retained in advanced generations of crosses among Angus and Hereford cattle. Journal of Animal Science 60: 1117–1132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laster, D. B., Smith, G. M. and Gregory, K. E. 1976. Characterization of biological types of cattle. IV. Postweaning growth and puberty of heifers. Journal of Animal Science 43: 63–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MacNeil, M. D., Cundiff, L. V., Dinkel, C. A. and Koch, R. M. 1984. Genetic correlations among sex-limited traits in beef cattle. Journal of Animal Science 58: 1171–1180.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Menissier, F. 1975. Genetic aspects related to use of beef breeds. In The Early Calving of Heifers and its Impact on Beef Production (ed. Tayler, J. C.), pp. 81–122. Commission of the European Communities, Brussels.Google Scholar
Morgan, J. H. L. and Saul, G. R. 1981. A comparison of breeds and their crosses for beef production. 1. Birth and weaning traits. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 32: 399–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morris, C. A., Bennett, G. L., Baker, R. L. and Carter, A. H. 1986. Birth weight, dystocia and calf mortality in some New Zealand beef breeding herds. Journal of Animal Science 62: 327–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newman, J. A., Rahnefeld, G. W., Tong, A. K. W. and Fredeen, H. T. 1985. Calving and preweaning performance of crossbred progeny of some foreign and domestic beef cattle breeds. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 65: 583–593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, H. D. and Thompson, R. 1971. Recovery of inter-block information when block sizes are unequal. Biometrika 58: 545–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Philipsson, J. 1976. Studies on calving difficulty, stillbirth and associated factors in Swedish cattle breeds. III. Genetic parameters. Ada Agriculturae Scandinavica 26: 211–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, G. M., Laster, D. B., Cundiff, L. V. and Gregory, K. E. 1976b. Characterization of biological types of cattle. II. Postweaning growth and feed efficiency of steers. Journal of Animal Science 43: 37–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, G. M., Lasiir, D. B. and Grkgory, K. E. 1976a. Characterization of biological types of cattle. I. Dystocia and preweaning growth. Journal of Animal Science 43: 27–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southgate, J. R., Cook, G. L. and Kempster, A. J. 1982. A comparison of the progeny of British Friesian dams and different sire breeds in 16- and 24-month beef production systems. 1. Live-weight gain and efficiency of food utilization. Animal Production 34: 155–166.Google Scholar
Woldehawariat, G., Talamantes, M. A., Petty, R. R. and Cartwright, T. C. 1977. A summary of genetic and environmental statistics for growth and conformation characters of young beef cattle. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Technical Bulletin No. 103.Google Scholar