The influence of contemporaneity, genetic variation and herd differences on variation in milk yield and butterfat percentage

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Abstract
1. Paired lactation records of milk yield and fat percentage from experimental twins and commercial twins, full-sisters and half-sisters are used in a study of the influence of contemporaneity, genetic variation and herd differences.2. The design of the investigation was such that members of a pair were alike in:(i) both time of calving and lactation number,(ii) time of calving only,(iii) lactation number only, or(iv) neither time of calving nor lactation number.3. Intra-class correlations between pair members in respect both of yield and fat percentage were highest for contemporary records. Differences in time of calving and in lactation number produced, in aggregate, a decline in correlation of about 20%. However, the separate estimates varied considerably between the different types of pair.4. The within-pair and between-pair variance components independently confirm these effects of contemporaneity. As the degree of contemporaneity of pair members declines the within-pair variance increases in size and the between-pair component decreases.