Heritability of Fertility in Brahman and Crossbred Cattle

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Abstract
The calving records of a purebred Brahman herd and a crossbred foundation herd of Brahman-Shorthorn breeding were evaluated for genetic influences on cow fertility. Observations were coded one (1) and zero (0), respectively, for cows which calved and those which failed to calve. Heritability estimates for birth rate by paternal half-sib correlations based on single records of 3-year-old first record cows and 4-year-old second record cows were 0.31 and 0.21, respectively, in the Brahman herd and 0.63 and 0.56 in the crossbred herd, for an average of 0.42 for the four estimates obtained from single records. Estimates from the paternal half-sib correlation of average lifetime records were 0.39 for both herds. The regression of lifetime average of the daughter on the lifetime average of her dam yielded heritability estimates of 0.54 and 0.25 for the two herds, respectively. Copyright © 1967. American Society of Animal Science . Copyright 1967 by American Society of Animal Science