Crossbreeding experiment with beef and dual-purpose sire breeds on Danish dairy cows

Livestock Production Science, 3 (1976) 227--238 © Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Amsterdam -- Printed in The Netherlands

227

CROSSBREEDING EXPERIMENT WITH BEEF AND DUAL-PURPOSE S I R E B R E E D S O N D A N I S H D A I R Y COWS

B. BECH ANDERSEN*, T. LIBORIUSSEN*, I. THYSEN*, K. KOUSGAARD** and L. BUCHTER**

*National Institute of Animal Science, Department of Cattle Experiments, Copenhagen (Denmark) **Danish Meat Research Institute, Roskilde (Denmark) (Received December 30th, 1975)

ABSTRACT

Bech Andersen, B., Liboriussen, T., Thysen, I., Kousgaard, K. and Buchter, L., 1976. Crossbreeding experiment with beef and dual-purpose sire breeds on Danish dairy cows. Livest. Prod. Sci., 3: 227--238. The experimental design and objectives are outlined for a crossbreeding experiment with European beef breeds as sire breeds and RDM (Danish Red), SDM (Black Pied Danish) and Danish Jersey as dam breeds. Results from a calving survey of 1006 single calvings are presented. Gestation length, birth weight and calving performance were strongly influenced by breed of sire, breed of dam and sex of calf. The variation in gestation length seemed to have only a slight effect on birth weight. The variation in birth weight had a strong effect on calving performance. The ranking of the sire breeds in descending order according to the frequency of unassisted calvings (which varied from 70 to 26 percent) was as follows: Hereford, Limousin, Danish Red and White Cattle, Simmental, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Chianina, Charolais and Romagnola.

I. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND OBJECTIVES

INTRODUCTION In D e n m a r k t h e m a j o r p a r t o f b e e f p r o d u c t i o n is b a s e d on d u a l - p u r p o s e a n d d a i r y c a t t l e b r e e d s . H o w e v e r , d u r i n g r e c e n t y e a r s t h e r e has b e e n an i n c r e a s i n g i n t e r e s t in t h e use o f b e e f b r e e d s . B e e f c a t t l e are n o w u s e d t o a small e x t e n t as p u r e b r e d o r c r o s s b r e d s u c k l e r c o w s in t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f s u c k l e d calves a n d f o r c r o s s i n g w i t h t h e p o o r e r c o w s in d a i r y h e r d s . S e m e n a n d p u r e b r e d a n i m a l s o f several E u r o p e a n b e e f b r e e d s h a v e b e e n i m p o r t e d t o D e n m a r k , a n d , c o n s e q u e n t ly, it was d e c i d e d t o c o m p a r e in a c o n t r o l l e d e x p e r i m e n t t h e t e c h n i c a l a n d econ o m i c a l r e t u r n o f d i f f e r e n t t y p e s o f b e e f b r e e d s c r o s s e d w i t h D a n i s h dualpurpose or dairy breeds.

228 EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN The experiment was designed and carried out according to the following basic principles: (1) Different types of European beef and dual-purpose breeds should be represented as sire breeds. (2) Each sire breed should berepresented by 5 bulls selected on the basis of breeding value for growth rate and carcass quality. There should be bulls at the breed average and bulls + 1 SD from the breed average. (3) Semen from the selected bulls should be used with cows of RDM (Danish Red), SDM (Black Pied Danish} and, to a smaller extent, Danish Jersey. The inseminations should be made in a great number of dairy herds, and only cows with at least one previous calving should be inseminated. (4) At calving, records should be taken of the calving performance. (5) The crossbred progeny should be tested in various production systems (sex, slaughter weight and feeding systems). (6) An intensive part of the experiment should include serial slaughtering and individual food intake recording. (7) Dissections should be made of at least 120 carcasses from each sire breed; organs and kidney and channel fat should be weighed. Meat quality of different muscles should be examined subjectively as well as objectively. (8) Comparisons of the crossbred progeny with purebred RDM and SDM should be possible. The following breeds were included in the experiment as sire breeds: Hereford, Limousin, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Charolais, Romagnola, Chianina, Simmental and Danish Red and White Cattle (DRK). It was not possible to obtain information on the breeding value of Hereford, Romagnola and Chianina. However, as the bulls were selected at large AIstations, the weight of the bulls at different ages could be compared to the station average for the breed in question, and selection could be done on that basis. Semen of Blonde d'Aquitaine bulls was not available from animals below the breed average; consequently, the Blonde d'Aquitaine bulls used in the experiment were 3--5 percent above the average for the breed. Charolais, Hereford and DRK were represented by Danish-owned bulls. The purchased semen was used in the winters 1972, 1973 and 1974 with RDM, SDM and Jersey cows in about 250 dairy herds. Calving performance was recorded by the herd owner on questionnaires. At an age of 2--4 weeks the crossbred calves were collected together on 5 t e s t stations where they were distributed to different production systems. (Table I). Systems I, II and III were performed with individual food intake recording, and the calves in these systems received a similar t r e a t m e n t to purebred RDM and SDM calves being performance and progeny tested on the same station at the same time. The results of the experiment will be published in a series of papers. This first paper contains results concerning calving performance, gestation length and birth weight.

229

TABLE I P r o d u c t i o n s y s t e m s in t h e e x p e r i m e n t

I II III IV V VI VII

Sex

Feeding system

Slaughter weight/age

Bulls Bulls Bulls Partly c a s t r a t e d steers Steers Heifers S u c k l e r cows

C o n c e n t r a t e s ad l i b i t u m C o n c e n t r a t e s ad l i b i t u m Concentrates ad libitum Roughage + concentrates restricted R o u g h a g e + grass R o u g h a g e + grass R o u g h a g e + grass

300 12 15 18 30 30

kg months months months months months

Subsequent papers are planned to deal with growth rate, food utilization, carcass quality and meat quality in the various systems of crossbred animals produced for slaughter and with growth, fertility, calving ability and maternal behaviour of crossbred females used as suckler cows. II. C A L V I N G P E R F O R M A N C E , B I R T H W E I G H T A N D G E S T A T I O N L E N G T H

INTRODUCTION

Several authors have dealt with the direct causes of calving difficulties and prenatal mortality (Dreyer, 1965; Abdallah, 1971; Hansen, 1972; and Menissier et al., 1975). It seems as if birth weight is the trait which is responsible for the major part of calving difficulties. Birth weight is determined by prenatal growth rate and gestation length. Both these traits therefore may be indirectly responsible for calving difficulties (Witt et al., 1964). Misplacement of the foetus, and size and age of the c o w are other factors that are often mentioned as direct causes of calving difficulties. According to Abdallah (1971) and Menissier et al. {1975) the morphology of the foetus (i.e. its dimensions expressed relative to birth weight) is also of great importance. In crossbreeding cows of a given breed with several sire breeds it can be expected that differences among sire breeds in the above-mentioned traits will lead to differences in calving performance among breed combinations. The paternal influence on calving performance has been studied in various crossbreedin~ experiments (BergstrSm, 1973, Laster, 1974; Lindh~, 1968; L.S.T.S.C., 1973; Mason, 1971; Menissier et al., 1974; Menissier et al., 1975; Philipsson, 1971; and Willis and Wilson, 1975). In all these experiments Charolais is compared with other sire breeds. Table II shows a review of the results expressed as the relative occurrence of difficult calvings for the other sire breeds compared with Charolais. It seems obvious that calving difficulties mainly occur when large breeds are used as sire breeds.

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The maternal influence of RDM, SDM and Jersey on calving performance has not been examined in crossbreeding experiments before. However, results from comparisons of purebred RDM and SDM did n o t show differences in the frequency of difficult calvings (Hansen, 1972). Gestation length and birth weight are 282 days and 42.0 kg for purebred RDM, and 280.5 days and 40.0 kg for purebred SDM (Jensen, 1963; Nielsen, 1964; and Andersen and Lykke, 1975). MATERIALS AND METHODS

The investigation presented in this paper was made using data from the crossbreeding experiment described in Part I. It includes 1006 calvings with single calves. Twenty-nine calvings with twin deliveries were excluded. The crossbred calves were born in the a u t u m n in 1972, 1973 and 1974 in private dairy herds, in n u m b e r s of less than 10 calves per farm per year. Only cows with at least one previous calving were used in the experiment. The gestation length is calculated as number of days from insemination to parturition. Calving performance was recorded by the herd owner on questionnaires. Based on these recordings the calvings were divided into three classes: (1) Easy calvings = no assistance (2) Slightly difficult calvings = pulling assistance (3) Very difficult calvings = veterinary assistance The calves were weighed for the first time on their arrival at a test station at an age of 2--4 weeks. An analysis of regression indicated an average growth rate of 0.4 kg per day in this period. No significant difference was found between the sire breeds. The birth weight was estimated as follows: Birth weight (kg) = weight on arrival at test station + 0.4 kg × days of age. No weight information was available for calves that died on farms. Gestation length and estimated birth weight were analysed according to the following statistical models (Harvey, 1960): (1)

Y i j k l = P + si + dj + f k + ei]kl Yijklm=P

+si+dj+fk+hl+(s×

h)il+(dX h)jl(fX h)kl+eijklm

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wh ere: Y = gestation length or birth weight p = least square mean si = the effect of sire breed d] = the effect of dam breed f k = the effect of sex of calf hl = the effect of class of calving performance e = error term Calving performance and mortality as affected by sire breed, dam breed and sex of calf were analysed by means of chi-square tests (Snedecor and Cochran, 1967).

232 RESULTS A total of 43 calves died before, during or within 48 hours after calving, and 18 calves died from 48 hours after calving to 4 weeks of age (Table III). The effect of sex of calf was significant at the 5 percent level, while effects of sire and dam breed were not significant. Least square means of gestation length and birth weight are given in Table IV. Both breed and sex of calf effects are significant as shown in the analysis of variance test in the appendix. In Table V frequencies of easy, slightly difficult and very difficult calvings are given, both for total calvings and for calvings with normally presented calves. Fourteen calves reported dead before calving are excluded from this part of the investigation. Sire breed averages are corrected to constant distribution on dam breed. The chi-square analysis indicated highly significant differences between sire breed, dam breed and sex of calf. The differences in frequency of abnormal presentations are n o t significant. Abnormal presentation was observed in 1 percent of easy calvings, 8 percent of slightly difficult calvings and 44 percent of very difficult calvings. The average birth weight of normally presented calves distributed on classes of calving performance are given in Table VI. In Table VII the relationship between ease o f calving and rate of mortality is shown. Fig.1 illustrates the relationship between birth weight and percentage of easy calvings distributed on sire breeds and dam breeds. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION Significant differences between sire breeds, dam breeds and sex of calf were found regarding the frequency of calving difficulties (Table V). Cows inseminated with Hereford, Limousin and D R K had the easiest deliveries and cows inseminated with Charolais and Romagnola the highest frequency of difficult calvings. Jersey cows calved the crossbred calves markedly easier than did the larger cows of the dual-purpose breeds RDM and SDM. Male calves caused a significantly higher frequency of calving difficulties and rate of mortality compared to female calves. The birth weight is highly influenced by sire breed and sex of calf. A strong relationship between birth weight and ease of calving was found (Table VI). Ranks of the sire breeds according to birth weight and frequency of calving difficulties are identical, except for the breed Romagnola. The high proportion of difficult calvings of cows bred with Romagnola is apparently not only due to a high birth weight, b u t is also caused by an unfavourable b o d y conformation of the newborn Romagnola crossbred calves. Significant sire breed, dam breed and sex of calf effects on gestation length were found (Table IV}. The variation in gestation length seems to have only a slight effect on birth weight and calving performance. Overall and residual (within sire breed, dam breed and sex of calf) coefficients of regression were

233

TABLE III Number of calvings and effects of breed o f sire, breed of dam and sex of calf on calf mortality Number of calves

Total

Dead before calving

Dead during calving

Dead 0--48 hours after birth

Dead 3--28 days after birth

Total dead

Breed of sire

Charolais Limonsin B1. d'Aquitaine Romagnola Chianina Hereford Simmental DRK

114 113 101 135 128 134 140 141

2 2 1 3 2 1 1 2

7 2 1 3 1 1 2 2

0 0 2 2 2 2 0 2

1 3 2 3 3 5 0 1

10 7 6 11 8 9 3 7

Breed of dam

RDM SDM Jersey

454 421 131

7 7 0

9 9 1

1 5 4

6 7 5

23 28 10

Sex of calf

Male Female

536 470

12 2

11 8

9 1

12 6

44 17

1006

14

19

10

18

61

Total

TABLE IV Effects of breed o f sire, breed of dam and sex of calf on length of gestation period and birth weight (Model 1) Length of gestation (days) L.S. means S.E.

Birth weight (kg) L.S. means S.E.

Breed of sire

Charolais Limousin Bl. d'Aquitaine Romagnola Chianina Hereford Simmental DRK

287.0 287.0 285.6 287.2 288.3 282.2 285.2 279.0

0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4

45.1 38.8 41.1 43.6 42.9 36.3 41.6 40.1

0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.6

Breed of dam

RDM SDM Jersey

286.5 284.5 284.7

0.2 0.3 0.5

46.2 44.5 32.8

0.4 0.4 0.6

Sex of calf

Male Female

286.0 284.4

0.2 0.3

43.2 39.1

0.4 0.4

285.2

0.2

41.2

0.3

Average

234

TABLE V Percentage o f easy (1), slightly difficult (2) a n d very difficult (3) calvings a n d p e r c e n t a g e o f a b n o r m a l presentations d i s t r i b u t e d b y breed o f sire, breed o f d a m a n d sex o f calf Frequency of abnormal p r e s e n t a t i o n (%)

Calvings with n o r m a l p r e s e n t a t i o n o f calf

Total calvings 1

2

3

1

2

3

Breed o f sire

Charolais Limousin Bl. d ' A q u i t a i n e Romagnola Chianina Hereford Simmental DRK

37 64 55 27 47 70 59 62

46 31 38 55 41 26 27 32

17 5 7 18 12 4 14 6

40 67 57 30 53 72 65 66

48 29 39 54 42 26 29 31

12 4 4 16 5 2 6 3

8.0 5.4 5.0 9.9 10.3 6.0 11.5 7.9

Breed o f d a m

RDM SDM Jersey

50 48 79

40 40 15

10 12 6

55 50 83

40 41 15

5 9 2

10.0 7.0 5.3

Sex of calf

Male Female

45 61

43 30

12 9

48 66

44 29

8 5

9.0 7.3

53

37

10

57

37

6

8.2

Average

T A B L E VI F r e q u e n c y (%) a n d average birth weight (least square m e a n kg) of normally presented calvesin classes of calving p e r f o r m a n c e (Model 2)

Easy calvings

Slightly difficult calvings

Very difficult calvings

Frequency

Birth weight

Frequency

Birth weight

Frequency

Birth weight

Breed o f sire

Hereford Limousin DRK Simmental B1. d ' A q u i t a b , e Chianina Charolais Romagnola

72 69 68 65 58 52 42 28

36.9 38.1 39.1 40.4 40.8 42.3 43.2 41.0

26 27 29 29 40 42 49 56

34,8 40, 7 41,5 42, 2 41.1 42,5 45.4 43.9

2 4 3 6 2 6 9 16

40.1 39.2 40.9 47.9 50.5 47.8 49.1 43.1

Breed of d a m

RDM SDM Jersey

56 51 82

44.5 43.8 32.6

39 41 15

47,7 45,5 31,4

5 8 3

52.2 46.8 35.5

Sex of calf

Male Female

49 66

42.2 38.3

44 30

43,6 39,5

7 4

45.3 44.4

57

40.2

37

41,5

6

44.9

Average

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0.154 kg/day and 0.352 kg/day, respectively; the corresponding coefficients of correlation were 0.31 and 0.25, respectively. The investigation revealed an important influence of the sire breed on gestation length, birth weight of calf and calving performance of RDM, SDM and Jersey cows crossbred with beef breeds. A profitable use of crossbreeding with beef breeds to excessive cows in dairy herds thus requires careful attention to this influence in order to keep calving difficulties and rate of mortality to a minimum.

REFERENCES A b d a l l a h , O.Y., 1971. V a r i a t i o n s g~n~tiques de l ' a p i t u d e au velage et de ses c o m p o s a n t e s . Thesis, Paris, 3 1 0 pp. A n d e r s e n , B.B. a n d Lykke, T., 1975. G e n e t i c aspects of g e s t a t i o n length, b i r t h w e i g h t a n d g r o w t h c a p a c i t y in Danish d u a l - p u r p o s e cattle. 2 6 t h A n n u a l M e e t i n g , E.A.A.P., Warsaw. Mimeo, 9 pp. BergstrSm, P.L., 1 9 7 3 . G e b r u i k s k r u i s i n g v o o r v l e e s p r o d u k t i o n bij r u n d v e e . R a p p o r t B l 1 7 , I n s t i t u u t v o o r V e e t e e l t k u n d i g O n d e r z o e k " S c h o o n o o r d " , Zeist, T h e N e t h e r l a n d s . 127 pp. Dreyer, D., 1965. G e b u r t s a b l a u f u n d K~lberverluste, u n t e r s u c h t a n N a c h k o m m e n ostfriesischer B e s a m u n g s b u l l e n in T e s t b e t r i e b e n . Diss. G S t t i n g e n , 158 pp. Hansen, M., 1972. KaelvningsforlSb s a m t r e l a t i o n e r m e l l e m d e t t e og nogle k ¢ d p r o d u k t i o n s e g e n s k a b e r h o s R D M og SDM. Thesis, C o p e n h a g e n , 73 pp.

237

Harvey, W.R., 1960. Least-squares Analysis of Data with unequal Subclass Numbers. Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Maryland, 157 pp. Jensen, N.E., 1963. Draegtighedstidens laengde hos kvaeget. Land~bkonomisk Fors~$gslaboratoriums Arbog, pp. 375--380. Laster, D.B., 1974. Factors affecting pelvic size and dystocia in beef cattle. J. Anita. Sci., 38: 497--503. Lindh~, B., 1968. Crossbreeding for beef with Swedish Red and White Cattle: Part I. Performance under varying field conditions. LantbrukshSgsk. Annlr., 34: 465--516. L.S.T.S.C., 1973. Limousine and Simmental Test Steering Committee. Report of the calving surveys on bulls imported to Great Britain in 1970--71. Mimeo, 15 pp. Mason, I.L., 1971. Comparative beef performance of the large cattle breeds of Western Europe. Anita. Br. Abstr., 39: 1--29. Menissier, F., Bibe, B. and Pirrau, B., 1974. Calving ability of three French beef breeds: preliminary results. Livest. Prod. Sci., 1: 217--218. Menissier, F., Vissac, B. and Frebling, J., 1975. Optimum breeding plans for beef cattle. 2nd Part. Calving ability in French beef breeds: analysis of components and breeding improvement. Bull. Tech. Dep. Genet. Anita., No. 2 1 , 1 0 2 pp. Nielsen, E., 1964. Nogle faktorer sore har indflydelse pli kalvenes fSdselsvaegt. 345. Beret. Fors~gslab., Copenhagen, 36 pp. Philipsson, J., 1971. Kalvningsvansker och d~bdf~bdsler. Buskap och Afdr~tt, 23: 234--235. Snedecor, G.W. and Cochran, W.G., 1967. Statistical Methods. 6th Edition, Iowa State Univ. Press, Iowa, U.S.A., 593 pp. Willis, M. and Wilson, H., 1975. Chianina -- no major calving troubles. Livest. Int., 8: 7--8. Witt, M., Walter, E. und Rappen, W.H., 1964. Untersuchungen fiber den Einfluss verschiedener Faktoren auf das Geburtsgewicht und die Beziehung zwischen dem Geburtsgewicht und dem 1/2 und 1-Jahresgewicht bei schwarzbunten Rindern. Z. Tierz. Zfichtungsbiol., 80: 3--24.

RESUME Bech Andersen, B., Liboriussen, T., Thysen, I., Kousgaard, K. et Buchter, L., 1976. Essai de croisement sur vaches laiti~res Danoises avec des taureaux de races mixtes et ~ viande. Livest. Prod. Sci., 3 : 2 2 7 - - 2 3 8 (en anglais). Le module experimental et les objectifs de cette experience visent ~ comparer en croisement huit races ~ viande Europ~ennes utilis~es c o m me races paternelles sur les races maternelles RDM (Rouge danoise), SDM (Pie-noire danoise) et Jersey danoise. Les r~sultats de v~lage concernant 1006 v~lages simples, sont rapport~s dans ce papier. La dur~e de gestation, le poids de naissance et les difficult~s de v~lage sont beaucoup influences par la race paternelle, la race maternelle et le sexe du veau. Les variations de dur~e de gestation semblent avoir peu d'effet sur le poids de naissance. Les variations de poids de naissance ont eu un important effet sur les difficult~s de v~lage. Le classement de races paternelles par ordre d~croissant selon la fr~quence des v~lages sans assistance (qui varie de 70 ~ 26 p. 100), a ~t~ le suivant: Hereford, Limousin, Pie-Rouge Danoise, Simmental, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Chianina, Charolais et Romagnola.

KURZFASSUNG Beeh Andersen, B., Liboriussen, T., Thysen, I., Kousgaard, K. und Buchter, L., 1976. Kreuzungsversuche mit Fleisch- und Zweinutzungsrindern als Vaterrassen und d~inischen Milchkfihen. Livest. Prod. Sci., 3 : 2 2 7 - - 2 3 8 (in Englisch).

238

Es wird ein Uberblick fiber den Versuchsplan und die Ziele eines Kreuzungsversuchs mit europ~iischen Fleischrassen als Vaterrassen sowie dem Roten D~inischen Rind, D~nischen Schwarzbunten und D~inischen Jersey als Mutterrassen gegeben. Es werden die Ergebnisse von 1006 Abkalbungen yon Einzelldilbern vorgelegt. Tr~ichtigkeitsdauer, Geburtsgewicht und Geburtsverlauf wurden stark durch Rasse des Vaters, Rasse der Mutter sowie Geschlecht des Kalbes beeinflusst. Die Variation der Tr~ichtigkeitsdauer schien nut einen geringen Einfluss auf das Geburtsgewicht zu haben. Die Variation des Geburtsgewichts hatte dagegen einen grossen Einfluss auf die Geburtsverlauf. Die Rangfolge der Vaterrassen hinsiehtlich ihrer abnehmenden H~ufigkeit yon Geburten ohne Hilfeleistung (die yon 70 bis 26 Prozent variierte) war wie folgt: Hereford, Limousin, D~inische Rotbunte, Simmental, Blonde d'Aquitaine, Chianina, Charolais und Romagnola.