Estimation of calving interval heritability in Romosinuano cattle using a generalized linear mixed model

• Main Authors: Gustavo Alfonso Ossa Saraz, Jorge Leonardo López Martínez, Freddy Hernández Barajas, Martha Oliva Santana Rodríguez, Jorge Luis Garcés Blanquiceth
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Corporación Colombiana de Investigación Agropecuaria (Corpoica) 2021-07-01
• Series: Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria
• Subjects: animal genetics; animal reproduction; cattle; genetic parameters; genetic variance
• Online Access: http://revistacta.agrosavia.co/index.php/revista/article/view/1861/903
• ISSN: 0122-8706; 0122-8706

The objective of this study was to estimate the heritability value of the character interval between births in a population of 2112 Romosinuano cows, and to determine the factors responsible for the variation of this character through the generalized mixed linear model. The 7560 records of interval between birth from 1936 to 2016 were analyzed. The mean interval between births was 379.74 ± 49.22 days (CV = 12.96%); the classes month of birth, number of intervals between births and year of birth had a statistically significant effect on this character. The lowest intervals between births occurred between April and June (367.12 ± 46.06 days); cows of the fourth-fifth birds (373.93 ± 46.93 days), and between 1956 and 1965 (370.48 ± 50.55 days). The highest values of the interval between births were presented between October and December (388.92 ± 57.96 days), in cows of a second and third birth(389.70 ± 49.38 days), third and four intervals between births (382.18 ± 51.19 days) andcows whose birth occurred in the period 1946-1955 (387.69 ± 56.75 days). The estimated heritability for this character was low (0.0001 ± 0.002). It a concluded that the Romosinuanobreed is reproductively efficient, however, given its low heritability, the selection for this character will have a relatively low effect due to the wide effect of environmental factors on its variation, and the generalized mixed linear model is a tool that allows this type of studies.