Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

The Estimation of Phenotypic and Genetic Parameters for Calf Birth Weight and Gestation Length of Brown Swiss Cows Reared at the Bahri Dağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute
Muammer TİLKİ
Kafkas Üniversitesi, Veteriner Fakültesi, Zootekni Anabilim Dalı, 36300 Kars - TÜRKİYE
(e mail: mtilki@hotmail.com)
Şeref İNAL, Mehmet Emin TEKİN
Selçuk Üniversitesi, Veteriner Fakültesi, Zootekni Anabilim Dalı, 42075 Konya - TÜRKİYE
Mehmet ÇOLAK
Bahri Dağdaş Uluslararası Tarımsal Araştırma Enstitüsü, Konya - TÜRKİYE

Abstract: This study was carried out to estimate the phenotypic and genetic parameters for the gestation length and birth weight of Brown Swiss cattle reared at the Bahri Bağdaş International Agricultural Research Institute. The experimental material consisted of 891 calving records and 666 gestation length records between 1989 and 2000. The least-squares means of birth weight and gestation length were 35.6 kg and 284 days, respectively. Except for the effect of the dam's age on gestation length, all other factors investigated in this study had significant effects on both gestation length and birth weight (P < 0.05-0.001). The estimations of heritability and repeatability for birth weight were 0.10 and 0.15, respectively. Estimated repeatability for gestation length was 0.14.

Key Words: Brown Swiss, birth weight, gestation length, heritability, repeatability

Turk. J. Vet. Anim. Sci. 2003; 27: 1343-1348.
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Other articles published in the same issue: Turk. J. Vet. Anim. Sci.,vol.27,iss.6.