Effect of breed and non-genetic factors on growth traits of Fogera and their crosses with Holstein Friesian cows

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate breed effect and some non-genetic factors on growth traits of Fogera and their crosses with Holstein Friesian cattle. A retrospective study for pre-weaning traits from 2011 – 2017 records at Chagni ranch and Andassa Livestock Research Centre were used. A total of 3239 calves for birth weight, 3090 calves for weaning weight and 107 for post-weaning weights were recorded from two-station herd books. Growth traits were analysed using general linear models. The fixed effects were breed, birth year, season, sex, parity and location. The overall mean of birth and weaning weights were 22.3±0.12 and 93.3±0.85 kg for Fogera and 24.6±0.11 and 112±0.84 kg for the crossbred calves, respectively. All fixed factors had effect on birth weight, weaning weight and pre weaning average daily gain of calves (p<0.01). The overall post weaning weight for Fogera and their crossbred calves were 101±1.62 and 111 ±2.65 kg respectively. The post weaning average daily gain for Fogera and crossbred calves was 308 ± 14.7and 289 ± 24.0 g, respectively. Except dam parity, all the other factors were significant (p<0.05) and caused variation in post-weaning weight. Since most of factors here studied showed a significant effect on growth traits, emphasis should be given on the non-genetic factors for improving weight gain. Keywords : breed conservation, crossbreeding, daily weight gain, heritability, ranch