Behavior of Simmental Heifers of Two Genotypes at the Age of Puberty and Mating
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HUSBANDRY
Behavior of Simmental Heifers of Two Genotypes at the Age of Puberty and Mating G. N. Levinaa, *, K. E. Tikhonova, M. V. Zelepukinaa, and A. I. Nazarenkoa aErnst
VIZh Federal Science Center for Animal Husbandry, Dubrovitsi, Moscow oblast, 142132 Russia *e-mail: [email protected] Received December 25, 2019; revised January 10, 2020; accepted January 25, 2020
Abstract—A survey was performed to find out the methods for improving the Holtenized Simmental cattle through selective breeding with Montbeliarde bulls. The objective of the survey was to identify the behavior patterns for the key positions, including growth, development, conformation, and reproductive performance, in the heifers of two genotypes. The differences in the social behavior of heifers kept in separate group sections were revealed more in favor of the Montbeliarde bull daughters. At the age of heifers at mating, they were 66% more frequent than that in their peers with the high rates of consanguinity in Holsteins, which were more active and aggressive. Thus, the findings showed that the occurrence rates of the stereotypic behavior were 17–33% higher among the animals at the age of 10–11 months and 14–15 months, while the gender-related behavior was less frequently observed. In addition, the use of different fodder factors under the conditions of one of the sections resulted in that the Montbeliarde bull progeny consuming the dietary compound feed tended to adapt to any irritation quicker by 8.5%; the animals responding to the irritant were 7.3% less. The heifers of genotype 1/4Simmental ×1/4Holstein × 1/2Montbeliarde are more resistant to the irritant and capable of intensive development. The valid differences in the liveweight were 39.6 kg and 60 kg at the age of 10–11 months and 14–15 months, respectively. The Montbeliarde bull daughters at the ages of 10–11 months and 14–15 months were distinct in higher feed intake by 10 and 5.8%, respectively, when compared to their 3/4Holstein peers. The Montbeliarde bull offspring are earlier maturing, since the successful conception was registered 1.4 months earlier and their first-service pregnancy rate was 4% higher than that in the heifers of genotype 1/4Simmental × 3/4Holstein. Keywords: Simmental breed, Montbeliarde breed, Red-and-White Holstein breed, heifers, body measurements, liveweight, behavior DOI: 10.3103/S1068367420040114
INTRODUCTION The Simmental breed has been improved through breeding with the Holstein cattle for several centuries. It had a positive effect on consolidating the dairy type in offspring and improving the cow udder quality, milk production, and udder technological parameters [1]. However, the long-term use of Holstein bulls to breed the Simmental cows caused the loss of disease resistance in their offspring, poorer body conformation, reduced productive lifetime, adverse effect on reproductive functions, and other traits. In addition, many recessive lethal mutations in the animals of the Holstenized population were revealed. This could be caused by genealogy of the
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