Can You Breed a “Good Breeder”
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Transcript of Can You Breed a “Good Breeder”
Can You Breed a “Good Breeder”
Kristi M. CammackDepartment of Animal
ScienceUniversity of Wyoming
Question of the Day:What is Fertility?
• Female:– Pregnancy rate?– Heifer pregnancy?– Calving rate?– 1st service conception rate?– Longevity?
• Male:– Scrotal circumference?– Breeding soundness?– Libido/service capacity?
What is Fertility?• In short, there is no single trait that
defines fertility!• Too many inputs!– “Successful reproduction is dependent
on many factors that require sires and dams capable of carrying out each critical stage of reproductive development.”
Mating
Fertilization
Gestation / Fetal Development
Parturition
Postnatal survival / growth
And an in
finite # of
step
s in betw
een!
Factors Affecting Reproduction
• Species– Bos taurus vs. Bos indicus
• Breed– Purebred– Crossbred
• Location• Sex• Animal class• Environment
– Management– Production setting– Etc.!
Reproduction Trait Evaluation
• National evaluations historically focuses on production traits.– Growth traits.– Carcass traits.
• Why?– Limited data available for reproduction
traits.• Lack of total-herd reporting.
– Difficulty in analyses procedures.• Especially binary traits.
– Ex: Pregnancy (Yes, No)– Generally lowly h2.
h2 of Common Female Reproduction Measures
Reproduction Trait Evaluation
• Why the low h2?– A large part of the observed variation is
unexplainable.• Unknown environmental effects.• Yet unexplained genetic effects.
– Additive, non-additive
– Reproductive traits largely influenced by management practices.
Female Reproduction• Beef cattle not reproductively efficient.– Per service calving rate ~50-60%.• AI or natural service.
• Function of underlying endocrine and physiological factors.
• ↑ Efficiency of cow-calf herd requires:– Improved cow fertility.– Improved yearling heifer fertility.• Replacement heifer development program.
Female Reproduction– The crux of the situation…
Selection has not been practiced to improve fertility…but instead to
minimize infertility.
Age at Puberty• Measure of heifer fertility.– Subsequent reproductive performance.
• Other predictors of heifer fertility:– Age at first estrous.– Age at first breeding.
• In general…– Reproductively efficient heifers reach
puberty sooner, and therefore conceive earlier.
Age at Puberty• Measured as first observed standing
heat.• Affected by:– Body weight.–Nutrition.–Hormones.– Breed!
Age at Puberty• Variable h2 estimates:
h2 # Estimates< 0.10 1
0.10 to < 0.20 30.40 to < 0.50 4
> 0.60 3
From: Laster et al., 1972
Age at Puberty (days)Purebred H 389.5Purebred A 372.2Purebred mean (A or H) 380.9Crossbred mean (HxA or AxH) 360.9H = Hereford; A = Angus
Age at Puberty• Correlated Trait - Weight at Puberty– h2: 0.40 to 0.70
Weight at Puberty (lb)Purebred H 593.5Purebred A 603.4Purebred mean (A or H) 598.3Crossbred mean (HxA or AxH) 590.4H = Hereford; A = Angus
From: Laster et al., 1972
Weight of Heifers Reaching Puberty by 15 Months of Age (lb)Yes No Difference
H x H 606.9 543.9 63.1A x A 640.9 552.9 88.0H x A 662.9 567.9 95.0A x H 631.0 586.0 45.0
From: Laster et al., 1972
Age at First Calving• Routinely recorded.• h2: 0.01 to 0.37• Genetically correlated with:– Age at subsequent calvings.– Interval between subsequent calvings.
• Used to evaluate heifer fertility.• Later age at first calving:– Associated with ↓ lifetime productivity.
Calving Date• Routinely recorded.• h2: 0.03 to 0.21• Reflection of:– Initiation of calving by calf.– Initiation of estrous cycles by dam.– Semen quality of sire.– Libido / service of sire.
Calving Date• Generally, earlier is better:– Calves have ↑weaning weights.• Predetermined calendar date versus weight-
or age-constant weaning date.– Dams have ↑ postpartum interval.• Sufficient time to return to estrus.
First Service Conception Rate
• Economically driven:– Cost of semen.– Labor for estrus detection.– Labor for breeding.– AI versus Natural Service.• Calf differences.
– Age.– Performance.
• Management tool:– 1st breeders versus multiple breeders.
First Service Conception Rate
• h2: 0.03 to 0.22• Other traits that take AI versus
Natural Service into account:– Calving to 1st insemination.– Conceptions per estrous cycle.– Conceptions per service.
Pregnancy Rate• Binary trait.– 1 = pregnant; 0 = not pregnant.
• h2: 0.14 to 0.21• Heifers:– Sexual maturity.– Probability of exposed heifer becoming
pregnant, and remaining pregnant.• Become pubertal and pregnant by 12 to 15
months of age.• Calve by 24 months of age.
Pregnancy Rate• For economic viability:– Replacement heifers must calve by 2 years.– And must remain in productive herd.
• Lifetime Pregnancy Rate:– # pregnancies / # mating years– h2: 0.04 to 0.12– Affected by number of factors, especially
length of breeding season.• Longer breeding season = ↑ Pregnancy Rates• But also ↓ weaning weights and↓ postpartum period
potentially.
Pregnancy Rate• Not generally affected by breed.– Typically used breed types.
• ↑ conception rates when inseminations made prior to end of standing estrus.
Pregnancy Rate
Correlations of Conception Rate with Other Reproductive Traits of InterestCorrelation
Weight at start of breeding period -0.02Weight change from weaning to breeding 0.12Date of estrus -0.02Number of estrus events before breeding -0.12
From: Laster et al., 1972
Net Calf Crop• % Calves weaned per cow exposed.• “Gross” measure of herd
reproductive ability.• h2: assumed low• < 100% calf crop:–Non-pregnant females.– Fetal deaths during gestation.– Peri-natal deaths.– Post-natal deaths.
Calving Rate• # Calves produced by a cow / # of
potential calves.• h2: 0.02 to 0.17
Calving Interval• Routinely recorded.• # days between successive calvings.• h2: 0.13• Challenges:• Selection for ↓ calving interval = Indirect selection for later
age at puberty.– 1st calf born late.
• Biases.• How to handle those with no record(s).
Dystocia• Calving difficulty.• “Risk” factor.– Increased in heifers.
• h2: 0.22 to 0.42• Scaled:
1 No difficulty; no assistance2 Minor difficulty; no assistance3 Major difficulty; usually mechanical assistance4 Caesarian section or other surgery5 Abnormal presentation
BIF Calving Ease Scores
Dystocia• ↓ Calf survival at birth.• ↓ Subsequent milk production.• ↓ Calf survival to weaning.• ↑ Risk of culling.– ↓ subsequent reproductive success.
Dystocia• Why?– Feto-pelvic incompatibility.• Oversized calf.
– Higher BW.– Longer gestation period.
• Undersized pelvic area.– Structural.– More “permanent” cause?
• Both.
Longevity / Stayability• Longevity:
– Length of time in breeding herd.– Meaning…
• Fewer replacement heifers.• ↑ # high producing cows.• ↓ # culled cows.
– However, not measured until late in life.• Stayability:
– Probability of cow staying in herd until a given age.• Predicted earlier in life.
– h2: 0.02 to -0.23• Dependent upon “given age” selected.
Male Reproduction• AI versus Natural Service• Bull “fertility” affected by:–Number of females expected to service.– Length of mating period.– Serving capacity
Male Reproduction• Other considerations:– Bull:cow ratio– Behavior– Temperment–Management
Scrotal Circumference• 1. Predict quality and quantity of
spermatozoa.• 2. Predict age at puberty of
daughters.– Indicator trait.–Why? • Easy to measure.• Highly h2!h2 # Estimates
0.20 to < 0.40 60.40 to < 0.50 50.50 to < 0.80 3
**Highest estimate: 0.78 (Coulter and Foote, 1979)
Scrotal Circumference• ↑ SC associated with:– ↑Sperm production.– ↓Semen quality.– ↓Age at puberty.– Growth traits???
Breeding Soundness• Most practical means of male
“fertility” assessment.• Includes:– Physical examination.– SC measurement.– Semen evaluation.• Not sex drive / mating ability.
Breeding Soundness• Improved reproductive efficiency:– Identification of subfertile bulls.– Recurring assessment of “fertile” bulls.
• Reasons for unsatisfactory scores:– Inadequate SC.• ≥30 cm by 1 year of age.
– Inadequate sperm motility.– Abnormal sperm morphology.–Many more…
Libido and Serving Capacity• Libido – Sex drive of a bull.– Single bull + restrained female.
• # Mating attempts.• Vigor of mating attempts.• Subjective assessment of sexual interest.
• Serving Capacity – Number of times a bull mounts and copulates.– Steroid-treated or non-estrous females +
small group of bulls.• # Services within specified time frame.• Subjective score.
• ↑ Scoring bulls = ↑ Pregnancy rates.
Obstacles - Female Reproduction
• Numerous “fertility” traits recorded.• Long time required to record many
such traits.– ↓ data reported.
• Low h2.• Limited data collection in pasture
mating systems.
Obstacles – Male Reproduction
• Variable assessments.– Serving capacity versus libido.
• Many bull “fertility” traits recorded in the female.– Pregnancy rate, etc.
• Few h2 estimates.– None available for breeding soundness,
serving capacity, or libido.• Difficult to identify lowly “fertile” bulls
in natural mating situations.
Obstacles - Genetic Analysis• Lack of whole-herd reporting.– Recently implemented in most U.S. breeds.
• Binary nature of reproductive traits.– Yes, no– 0, 1
• Time required to collect data necessary for reproductive traits.
• Uniformity of reproductive traits.– Many similar traits with slight variations.– BIF guidelines needed?
But there is hope…• A number of U.S. breed associations now
recording reproductive performance traits.– SC, heifer pregnancy, and stayability included
in some evaluations.• American Angus Association, Red Angus
Association, American Hereford Association.
• Genetic correlations with other traits (e.g. production traits) that are more highly h2.
• Some reproductive traits are themselves moderately h2.
But there is hope…• Some reproductive traits show
evidence of genetic influence.– a.k.a. “Yet unexplained genetic effects”
• Crossbreeding can be used to make non-additive genetic improvements:– Earlier puberty– Increased pregnancy rate– Decreased dystocia– Increased longevity– Decreased calving interval
Acknowledgements• Milt Thomas (New Mexico State
University)• Mark Enns (Colorado State University)• WERA-1 (Beef Cattle Breeding
Committee)