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Effects of cow families on production traits in dairy cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2016

T. Roughsedge ,
P. M. Visscher  and
S. Brotherstone
T. Roughsedge*
Affiliation:
Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK
P. M. Visscher
Affiliation:
Institute of Ecology and Resource Management, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JG, UK Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
S. Brotherstone
Affiliation:
Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK
*
†Present address: Scottish Agricultural College, Animal Biology Division, Penicuik EH26 0PH, UK.
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Abstract

The components of phenotypic variance attributable to maternal lineage for production traits of the UK Holstein Friesian dairy population were estimated. First lactation production records of 55 230 cows calving between 1996-1998 in the UK Holstein Friesian population were used in the analysis. Maternal pedigree records were traced back to 1960 to establish maternal lineages. The tracing resulted in 36 320 cows being assigned to 11 786 cow families with more than one cow per maternal lineage. Using test day records it was possible to explore aspects of the lactation curve in terms of persistency and different periods of production. The traits analysed were 305-day milk yield and composition traits, the first three milk yield tests of lactation and two measures of persistency. A contemporary record design was used to minimize pair-wise additive direct genetic relationships between cows within a maternal lineage and to remove both the effect of heterogeneous variance over time and the complications of permanent environment effects. No significant component of variance attributable to maternal lineage was found for yield traits. When data were restricted to maternal lineages with five or more records, persistency, as a ratio of cumulative yield in the last third to that in the first third of a 300-day lactation, was estimated to have a 4·4% component due to maternal lineage variance significant at the 5% level. The study also investigated the preferential treatment of cow families. Some evidence of maternal lineage × herd interaction was found.

Keywords

dairy cowsfamiliesheritabilitypreferential treatment
Type
Breeding and genetics
Information
Animal Science , Volume 71 , Issue 1 , August 2000 , pp. 49 - 57
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 2000

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