Selection of bull dams in population of Simmental cattle

Abstract

Increase of production and improvement of the quality of milk, as well as of the intensity of fertility, are main prerequisites of modern cattle production. For the purpose of production of domestic Simmental bulls it is necessary to select the best cows from main herd. These heads as a rule represent approx. 1% of best cows in the controlled population primary in regard to production of milk and milk fat, but also in regard to body development, udder development and fertility traits. Fertilization of bull dams is done according to adequate system, where, for each dam, annually, bull, previously selected as sire, is determined, whose semen will be used for her insemination. Since the fastest way for selection and genetic progress is sire-son line, the most attention is directed to selection of bull sires. In Serbia, annually, only very few bulls are tested, which is insufficient for realization of greater and faster genetic improvement of production and reproduction traits of Simmental population of cattle. Therefore, centres for artificial insemination often import semen of elite bulls for planned insemination of Simmental bull dams, or borrow young bulls from abroad (waiting bulls) whose semen is used for insemination of main population. In this paper criteria for selection of cows into category of bull dams are presented as well as results relating to milk production, fertility, body development and type score of bull dams of Simmental breed in Central Serbia.

Parámetros genéticos para producción de leche en ganado Simmental (Bos taurus) mediante modelos genómicos y poligénicos

“…La media para PL60, PL150, PL210 y PL305 fue 1029 ± 293, 2478 ± 688, 3352 ± 905 y 3931 ± 2153 L, respectivamente. Estas producciones de leche acumuladas fueron menores a lo reportado en literatura para ganado Simmental en países templados y tropicales (Pantelić et al 2009). Por ejemplo, Shevhuzhev et al (2017) reportaron en una población Simmental doble propósito en Austria producciones de 3123, 4245 y 5261 kg de leche a PL150, PL210 y PL305, respectivamente.…”