Some Production Traits of Holstein, Brown-Swiss and Simmental Cattle Reared in Lalahan Livestock Research Institute
2 Ankara Üniversitesi Veteriner Fakültesi Zootekni Anabilim Dalı, Ankara
3 Lalahan Hayvancılık Merkez Araştırma Enstitüsü, Ankara - Data on 223 lactation records pertaining to 90 Holstein, 31 Brown Swiss, 32 Simmental cows and 388 calves were examined to determine the production, reproduction and calf livability in conditions of Lalahan Livestock Central Research Institute, Ankara.
Lactation milk yield and calving interval were 5969.75 kg and 437.58 days for Holsteins, 4537.08 kg and 460.58 days for Brown Swiss, 4806.78 kg and 440.94 days for Simmentals. Analysis of variance showed that the lactation milk yield were significantly (P<0.001, P<0.05) affected by breed, calving year and parity. The effect of calving year on lactation length was significant (P<0.01, P<0.05), while significant effects of breed and parity on gestation length were observed (P<0.01, P<0.05).
The age at first calving for Holstein, Brown Swiss and Simmentals were 869.01, 936.05 and 861.90 days, respectively. The age at first calving were significantly (P<0.05, P<0.01) higher in Brown Swiss cows. The birth weights of Holstein, Brown Swiss and Simmental calves were 38.75, 39.30 and 39.54 kg, respectively. The effects of year, calf sex and age of dam on birth weight were prominent (P<0.01, P<0.001). Calf livability for Holstein, Brown Swiss and Simmentals were 0.97, 0.91 and 0.98 in 30th day, 0.94, 0.87 and 0.92 in 90th day, 0.93, 0.85 and 0.92 in 180th day. Only 30th day livability were significantly (P<0.05) lower in Brown Swiss calves than the others. In contrary to satisfactory level for milk yield, some problems were experienced in heat detection, inseminations and herd management due to higher age at first calving, calving interval and 180th day mortality rate.
Keywords : Holstein, Brown Swiss, Simmental, production traits, birth weight, calf livability