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Studies of pedigree Hereford cattle breeding. 1. Herdbook analyses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

K. Özkütük  and
M. Bichard
K. Özkütük
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU
M. Bichard
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agriculture, The University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU
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Summary

1. Analyses were based mainly upon entries in Volume 101 of the Hereford herdbook (horned section) for 1971, but also used details published between 1900 and 1970.

2. During the calving period July 1969 to June 1970, 2705 herds in Great Britain and Eire registered 17 297 calves. It was estimated that there were some 21 900 cows in pedigree herds; 2664 bulls were used for pure breeding, more than half in one-sire herds. During the period 1964 to 1970 approximately 60% of all bull calves registered by about 6 mo of age were later licensed for pure- or crossbreeding.

3. From a sample of calves, 87% of their sires and 37% of their dams had not been bred in the same herds where the calves were registered. More than half the herds had been established for fewer than 10 yr and the average age was 12·2 yr. The mean generation interval was 5·25 yr.

4. Pedigree analyses revealed a particularly well developed hierarchy within the breed; the effective number of herds at the great-great-grandparental level was only four. The dominant herd (Vern) had made a total genetic contribution to the breed of over 24% judged by the number of independent occurrences of Vern animals in the four-generation pedigrees of sample animals. The average increase per generation in inbreeding over the past 12 generations had been only 0·48%, and there was no evidence of any subdivision of the breed into separate strains.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 24 , Issue 1 , February 1977 , pp. 1 - 13
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1977

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References

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