Estimation of genetic parameters for calving ease for Simmental cattle in Croatia

Abstract

The objective of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters for calving ease of Simmental eau le in Croatia. Data consisted of 135,S92 calves. and pedigree included 639.999 animals. Calving ease was scored from I to 5 (I = unassisted, 2 to 5 =various levels or assistance). Calving ease at first calving. and second or later parities where treated as different traits. Variance components were estimated by REML as implemented in VCE-5 package. Statistical model included age at calving. sex, region-year interaction as fixed effects and owner and direct additive genetic effect as random effects. The estimated heritabilities were 0.1 05±0.005 for calving ease at first calving and 0.07S±0.005 for calving ease at second and later parities. These results suggest that model tested can be used for call le evaluation for calving case of Simmental catle in Croatia.