Body condition score of Nellore beef cows: a heritable measure to improve the selection of reproductive and maternal traits

Abstract

Despite the economic importance of beef cattle production in Brazil, female reproductive performance, which is strongly associated with production efficiency, is not included in the selection index of most breeding programmes due to low heritability and difficulty in measure. The body condition score (BCS) could be used as an indicator of these traits. However, so far little is known about the feasibility of using BCS as a selection tool for reproductive performance in beef cattle. In this study, we investigated the sources of variation in the BCS of Nellore beef cows, quantified its association with reproductive and maternal traits and estimated its heritability. BCS was analysed using a logistic model that included the following effects: contemporary group at weaning, cow weight and hip height, calving order, reconception together with the weight and scores of conformation and early finishing assigned to calves at weaning. In the genetic analysis, variance components of BCS were estimated through Bayesian inference by fitting an animal model that also included the aforementioned effects. The results showed that BCS was significantly associated with all of the reproductive and maternal variables analysed. The estimated posterior mean of heritability of BCS was 0.24 (highest posterior density interval at 95%: 0.093 to 0.385), indicating an involvement of additive gene action in its determination. The present findings show that BCS can be used as a selection criterion for Nellore females.

Parámetros genéticos para peso al destete y rasgos reproductivos en ganado cebú de Cuba

“…Existe un consenso general acerca de niveles bajos de h 2 para rasgos reproductivos, no obstante, se reconoce su importancia en los programas de mejora del ganado de carne (Cammack et al, 2009, Johnston, 2014. Los resultados del presente estudio corroboran lo anterior en ganado Cebú de Cuba, también se demuestra que cuando se combinan un carácter con alto nivel de heredabilidad como el PD con un rasgo reproductivo, los resultados pueden ser altamente Fernandes et al (2015) en ganado Nelore con resultados muy positivos. Esta alternativa ha sido propuesta por Johnston (2014) para la mejora genética de rasgos reproductivos en ganado de carne a escala global.…”

“…anterior fue demostrado en animales Nelore porFernandes et al (2015). En primer lugar, los estimados de h 2 se incrementaron notablemente (ver Tabla 3 y 4) lo cual tiene un efecto positivo sobre la precisión del VG, mientras que las correlaciones entre los VG estimados por modelos univariados y bivariados fueron muy cercanos a la unidad (ver Tabla 5).…”

Backfat Thickness Does Affect the Restoration of Ovarian Activity Postpartum in Different Breeding Programs in Zebu Cattle

“…The strong correlation between body condition score and reproductive outcomes has been addressed by several studies in the tropics (16,(19)(20)(21)(22). However, there is a debatable issue due to inconsistencies related to the degree of technical expertise or the corporal area of the animal chosen to evaluate.…”

An exploratory cross-sectional study of the impact of farm characteristics and calf management practices on morbidity and passive transfer of immunity in 202 Chianina beef-suckler calves

“…Serum samples with IgG concentrations greater than the manufacturer's stated performance range for the Maternal; frozen a Body condition scores were assigned empirically on a 1-5 scale based on the amount of fat reserves at skeletal checkpoints localised in ribs, iliac and ischial bones. This grade criterion was described by Machado et al (2008) and used in autochthonous sud-American beef cows (Fernandes et al, 2015) and described, using 0.25 increments, in both Italian Piedmont (ANABORAPI-Associazione Nazionale Allevatori della Razza Bovina Piemontese 2021)) and Chianina beef cows (ANABIC-Associazione Nazionale Allevatori Bovini Italiani da Carne 2020).…”