The performance of heifers got by artificial insemination

Extract

1. An analysis has been made of the production records of over 1400 heifers got by A.I. bulls at five non-Board centres. The A.I. heifers, when compared with other heifers in the same herd in the same year, showed no significant increase in yield but a significant increase in fat content.

2. The difference in yield between A.I. and contemporary non A.I. heifers was not significantly different in herds at all levels of production. This would suggest that only a small proportion of the differences in yield between the herds in the sample was genetic in origin. In fat percentage, there was some evidence, though not very conclusive, that rather more of the inter-herd variation was genetic.

3. Significant differences were found between the progeny groups by different sires in both milk yield and fat content. The standard deviation of the variation due to the breeding value of the sire was 37 gal. and 0·13% fat respectively.

4. Methods of interpreting progeny tests made under A.I. conditions are discussed theoretically. It is concluded that the comparison with heifer contemporaries in the same herd is most satisfactory for milk yield and the simple average is best for fat content.

5. The relevance of these results to the genetic structure of breeds is discussed. They are in good agreement with the conclusions from pedigree analysis that the genetic differences between the dominant group of herds and the mass of commercial cattle in each breed is not great.