Postweaning growth, feed efficiency, and carcass traits were analyzed on 1,422 animals obtained by mating F1 cows to F1 (Belgian Blue x British breeds) or Charolais sires. Cows were obtained from mating Hereford, Angus, and MARC IIIHereford, 1/4 Angus, 1/4 Pinzgauer, and 1/4 Red Poll) dams to Hereford or Angus (British breeds), Tuli, Boran, Brahman, or Belgian Blue sires. Breed groups were fed ...

Five alternative models were applied for analysis of dystocia and stillbirth in first and second parities. Models 1 and 2 were included only to estimate the parameters required for model 4, and models 3 and 5 are included only as comparisons to the model 4 estimates. Variance components were estimated by multi-trait REML, including cows with valid calving records for both parities. For the effe...

SPECIALTY GRAND CHALLENGE article Front. Drug Saf. Regul., 31 March 2023Sec. Maternal-Fetal Medicine Volume 3 - 2023 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fdsfr.2023.1187070

The proportion of variance for service sire effect was estimated for three litter size traits (numbers of piglets born, born alive, and weaned) in Czech Large White (89 231 litters) and Czech Landrace (28 320 litters) pigs. Each trait in the first parity was considered as one trait and that trait in the second and subsequent parities was treated as a repeated trait. Consequently, three two-trai...

Quality measures of lamb longissimus dorsi were evaluated in 514 crossbred wether lambs to assess sire breed differences. Wethers were produced over 3 yr from single-sire matings of 22 Columbia, 22 U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC)-Composite (Composite), 21 Suffolk, and 17 Texel rams to adult Rambouillet ewes. Lambs were reared to weaning in an extensive western rangeland production sys...

Mixed model techniques were used to evaluate the importance of cytoplasmic genetic effects on beef cattle performance. Birth weight (BWT), preweaning average daily gain (ADG), weaning weight (WT205), postweaning gain (PG), ultrasonic backfat thickness (FAT) and predicted milk yield (MILK) data were collected in two herds of Hereford cattle located at Plymouth and Raleigh, North Carolina. Cytopl...

Estimates of covariances and sire expected progeny differences of additive and nonadditive direct and maternal genetic effects for birth and weaning weights were obtained using records from 1,581 straightbred and crossbred calves from the Angus-Brahman multibreed herd at the University of Florida. Covariances were estimated by Restricted Maximum Likelihood, using a Generalized Expectation-Maxim...

Maternal performance of 134 Hereford (H), Brangus (B), and reciprocal crossbred (H x B and B x H) cows from 2 to 7 yr of age was evaluated under semidesert conditions in this study. Calves produced by 2- and 3-yr-old cows were sired by Brangus and Hereford bulls. Calves produced by 4- to 7-yr-old cows were sired by Charolais bulls. Breed of sire and breed of dam of cow affected kilograms of wea...

Within the area of sex allocation, one of the topics that has attracted a lot of attention is the sex ratio problem. Fisher (1930) proposed that equal numbers of males and females have been promoted by natural selection and it has an adaptive significance. But the empirical success of Fisher's theory remains doubtful because a sex ratio of 0.50 is also expected from the chromosomal mechanism of...