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Genetic Analysis of Body Condition Score in First-Parity Danish Holstein Cows

J. Lassen^*,, M. Hansen^*, M. K. Sørensen^*, G. P. Aamand, L. G. Christensen and P. Madsen^*

^* Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Research Centre, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
The Danish Agricultural Advisory Centre, DK-8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
Department of Animal Science and Animal Health, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, DK-1870 Frederiksberg C, Denmark

Corresponding author: J. Lassen; e-mail: jan.lassen{at}agrsci.dk.

The aim of this study was to test whether genetic components for body condition score (BCS) changed during lactation in first-parity Danish Holsteins. Data were extracted from the national conformation scoring system and consisted of 28,948 records from 3894 herds. Cows were scored once during lactation for BCS on a scale from 1 to 9 with increments of 1. The majority of records were made from d 30 to 150 of lactation. Mean BCS was 4.28 ± 0.98. Body condition score was lowest in wk 8 to 10 from calving. A multivariate sire model with BCS recordings in six lactation stages treated as different traits was used to analyze the data. In addition, a random regression sire model was used to evaluate the changes in BCS as continuous functions of lactation stage. Estimates of heritability from the multivariate approach ranged from 0.14 to 0.29, and the estimated genetic correlations between BCS at different lactation stages were all higher than 0.82. The random regression model was based on Legendre polynomials (LP) specified on days in milk at scoring. To evaluate the change in mean BCS during lactation, the fixed part of the model included a fifth-order LP on the effect of days in milk at scoring. The highest order of fit used for the sire effect was a third-order LP, but based on likelihood ratio tests this could be reduced to a 0 order, i.e., a model with only the intercept term for the sire effect. This means that the genetic variation is constant over the investigated part of the lactation. Therefore, BCS can be considered the same trait during lactation, and a simple sire model can be used for prediction of breeding values.

Key Words: body condition score • multivariate model • random regression model • genetic component

Abbreviation key: LP = Legendre polynomials

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