No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 November 2017
Optimising heifer growth rates is an essential component of dairy replacement management in order to ensure sustainable heifer replacement stocks. Continuous evaluation of the growth pattern of heifers in a herd may be used to identify particular effects of nutritional management and the environment. Body weight is considered the most useful indicator of a heifer’s growth rate, both in practice and experiment work, along with body measurements reflecting the skeletal growth of heifer. The aims of this research are to investigate: 1) body trait : age relationships, 2) ratio of body measurements to body weight, and 3) to predict body weight based on body measurements of Holstein heifers in Indonesia.