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Analysis of Inbreeding and Its Relationship with Functional Longevity in Canadian Dairy Cattle

A. Sewalem^*,,1, G. J. Kistemaker, F. Miglior^*, and B. J. Van Doormaal

^* Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Dairy and Swine Research and Development Centre, Lennoxville, QC, Canada, J1M 1Z3
Canadian Dairy Network, Guelph, ON, Canada, N1G 4T2

¹ Corresponding author: sewalem{at}cdn.ca

The aim of this study was to assess the level of inbreeding and its relationship to the functional survival of Canadian dairy breeds by using a Weibull proportional hazard model. Data consisted of records from 72,385 cows in 1,505 herds from 2,499 sires for Jerseys, 112,723 cows in 1,482 herds from 2,926 sires for Ayrshires, and 1,977,311 cows in 17,182 herds from 8,261 sires for Holsteins. Longevity was defined as the number of days from first calving to culling, death, or censoring. Inbreeding coefficients (F) were grouped into 7 classes (F = 0, 0 < F < 3.125, 3.125 F < 6.25, 6.25 F <12.5, 12.5 F < 18.25, 18.25 F < 25.0, and F 25.0%). The statistical model included the effects of stage of lactation, season of production, the annual change in herd size, type of milk recording supervision, age at first calving, effects of milk, fat, and protein yields calculated as within herd-year-parity deviations, herd-year-season of calving, inbreeding, and sire. The relative culling rate was calculated for animals in each class after accounting for the above-mentioned effects. A trend toward increased risk of culling among more inbred animals was observed for all breeds. Little difference in survival was observed for cows with 0 < F <12.5%. The relative risk ratios (relative to F = 0) for cows with inbreeding coefficients up to 12.5% were 1.19, 1.16, and 1.14 for Jersey, Ayrshire, and Holstein cows, respectively. Greater effects of inbreeding were seen, however, when F increased beyond 12.5%.

Key Words: functional longevity • inbreeding level • inbreeding depression

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