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401437

A Genetic Study on Lifetime Traits for Experimental Herds of Friesian Cattle

Article

Last updated: 13 Jan 2025

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Abstract

This study analyzed data from 5,518 lactations involving 1,749 Friesian cows raised in two experimental herds between 1992 and 2022.  The study aim was to estimate the genetic parameters for longevity traits using a multiple-trait animal model, including age at first calving (AFC), lifetime (LT), lifetime days in milk (LTDIM), total lactations (TL) and lifetime milk yield (LTMY). On average, cows lived for 80.4 months, with 41% of their lifetime spent in milk production. They averaged 3.2 lactations, starting at 32.7 months. Heritability estimates for longevity traits were 0.09 to 0.12 suggesting limited direct selection potential. Strong genetic and phenotypic correlations (0.88–0.96) were observed between lifespan traits and total milk production. Similar correlations were found between partial lifetime milk yield traits for the first three lactations and total lifetime milk yield (0.44 to 0.97). Genetic correlations between lifetime traits were consistently high (0.88 to 0.99), mirroring phenotypic correlations. Notably, heritability estimates for partial performance traits increased with more lactations considered, and correlations between partial and lifetime traits were improved with additional data. These findings suggest the feasibility of early indirect selection for longevity through correlated responses in early performance traits, particularly early lactation milk production, to enhance overall lifetime productivity.  

DOI

10.21608/ajs.2024.266754.1553

Keywords

genetic parameters, correlated response, Longevity traits, partial lifetime, Holstein Friesian

Authors

First Name

Faten

Last Name

Abd El-Rahman

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Animal Production Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, P.O. Box 12618 Dokki, Egypt

Email

fatenabdelrahman2017@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

0009-0000-5240-7978

First Name

Manal

Last Name

Elsayed

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Animal Production Dept, Fac of Agric, Ain Shames Univ, P.O. Box 68, Hadayek Shubra 11241, Cairo, Egypt

Email

manalelsayed@hotmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Usama

Last Name

El-Saied

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Animal Production Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, P.O. Box 12618 Dokki, Egypt

Email

umelsaied2003@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Abdelhaleem

Last Name

Ashmawy

MiddleName

A

Affiliation

Animal Production Dept, Fac of Agric, Ain Shames Univ, P.O. Box 68, Hadayek Shubra 11241, Cairo, Egypt

Email

abdelhaleem_ashmawy@agr.asu.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Hussein

Last Name

Mansour

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Animal Production Dept, Fac of Agric, Ain Shames Univ, P.O. Box 68, Hadayek Shubra 11241, Cairo, Egypt

Email

hussein.mansour@gmail.com

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

32

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

52591

Issue Date

2024-12-01

Receive Date

2024-01-31

Publish Date

2024-12-01

Page Start

221

Page End

229

Print ISSN

1110-2675

Online ISSN

2636-3585

Link

https://ajs.journals.ekb.eg/article_401437.html

Detail API

http://journals.ekb.eg?_action=service&article_code=401437

Order

401,437

Type

Original Article

Type Code

668

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Arab Universities Journal of Agricultural Sciences

Publication Link

https://ajs.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

A Genetic Study on Lifetime Traits for Experimental Herds of Friesian Cattle

Details

Type

Article

Created At

13 Jan 2025