Genetic analysis of feet and leg conformation traits in Nelore cattle

Abstract

Feet and leg conformation scores are important traits in beef cattle because they encompass a wide range of locomotion disorders that can lead to productive and reproductive losses. Thus, the study of feet and legs in beef cattle is essential for evaluating possible responses to selection focusing on minimizing economic losses caused by the occurrence of feet and leg problems. The aim of this study was to estimate variance components for feet and leg conformation traits in Nelore cattle. The data set contained records of approximately 300,000 animals that were born between 2000 and 2013. These animals belonged to the commercial beef cattle breeding program of the CRV Lagoa (). Feet and legs were evaluated by assigning visual scores at 2 different time points: feet and leg evaluated as a binary trait (FL1), measured at yearling (about 550 d of age) to identify whether (or not) an animal has feet and leg defects, and feet and leg score (FL2), ranging from 1 (less desirable) to 5 (more desirable) was assigned to the top 20% of animals according to the selection index adopted by the beef cattle breeding program, which was measured 2 to 5 mo after the yearling evaluation. The FL1 and FL2 traits were analyzed together with yearling weight (YW). The (co)variance components and breeding values were estimated by Bayesian inference using 2-trait animal models. The posterior means (standard errors) of the heritabilities for FL1, FL2, and YW were 0.18 (0.04), 0.39 (0.07), and 0.47 (0.01), respectively. The results indicate that the incidence of feet and leg problems in this population might be reduced by selection. The genetic correlation between FL1 and FL2 (-0.47) was moderate and negative as expected because the classification score that holds up each trait has opposite numerical values. The genetic trends estimated for FL1 and FL2 (-0.042 and 0.021 genetic standard deviations per year, respectively) were favorable and they indicate that the independent culling strategy for feet and leg problems promotes favorable changes and contributes to the genetic progress of these traits in the population under study.

Using Random Regression Models to Genetically Evaluate Functional Longevity Traits in North American Angus Cattle

“…Selecting for adequate claw set and foot angle can reduce the incidence of lameness [35], one of the main reasons for early culling in beef cattle [36,37]. This in agreement with Vargas et al [38], who commented that locomotion disorders can lead to several productive and reproductive losses.…”

Large-Scale Phenotyping of Livestock Welfare in Commercial Production Systems: A New Frontier in Animal Breeding

“…Genetic selection for improved welfare has been investigated and implemented in livestock species over the past few decades (Rodenburg and Turner, 2012;Canario et al, 2013). Several traits associated with animal welfare have been shown to be heritable (the majority of the estimates are in the range of 0.15 to 0.40; Tables 1-4), including: feather pecking (Buitenhuis et al, 2004;Muir et al, 2014;Grams et al, 2015), cannibalism (Rodenburg et al, 2008;Bennewitz et al, 2014), animal robustness (Muir et al, 2014;Rauw and Gomez-Raya, 2015;Friggens et al, 2017), overall mortality (Knol et al, 2002;Grandinson, 2005;Bolhuis et al, 2009), leg health (McLaren et al, 2016;Vargas et al, 2017), bone strength (Kapell et al, 2017;Oviedo-Rondón et al, 2017;Siegel et al, 2019), and immune response and disease resistance (Bishop and MacKenzie, 2003;Stear et al, 2012;Mallard et al, 2015;Schultz et al, 2020). Genetic and genomic selection for welfare traits, itself, is unlikely to solve all the welfare issues in commercial livestock operations.…”

Selection for pure- and crossbred performance in Charolais

“…Maternal ability refers to the cow's ability to suckle the calf and is related to the weaning weight of the calf. Gradually, interest has increased to include behavior and type traits into the breeding objective Vargas et al 2014). Aggressiveness is important as it is associated with human safety and workability (Le Neindre et al, 2002;Turner et al, 2013).…”

“…In beef cattle, there is a growing interest to include in the breeding goal not only traits directly related to profitability such as muscular development (Martinez et al, 2010), but also traits related to behavior and type Vargas et al 2014). Aggressiveness has been associated with human safety and workability (Le Neindre et al, 2002;Turner et al, 2013).…”

“…Nowadays, there is interest to include behavior and type traits in selection Vargas et al 2014). Aggressiveness is important as it is associated with human safety and workability (Le Neindre et al, 2002;Turner et al, 2013).…”