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No description available.

The effect of composite and descriptive linear type traits on Functional Herd Life in Holstein cows was studied by means of Survival Analysis (Ducrocq and Solkner, 1998a). The original data set contained 331,105 lifetime records from the Programme d'Analyse des Troupeaux Laitiers du Quebec, from January 1980 to March 1995. Only 191,167 records (or cows) had type information. Mixed Weibull models were fitted to analyse the data; the probability of being culled (hazard) was defined as a product of a baseline Weibull hazard function and explanatory variables. The heritability estimates for Functional Herd Life were 0.07 in the log scale and 0.15 in the original scale. Sire Estimated Transmitting Ability for FHL, expressed as relative culling rate, ranged from 0.6 to 1.4 for all models. Solutions for fixed effects (all significant) indicated a higher probability of being culled for primiparous cows calving at older ages, for cows producing below herd average, for first lactation cows in the first and last stage of lactation and for older cows at the end of lactation. The risk of being culled did not change for cows in herds decreasing or increasing in size. Cows classified with a high score for Final Score were less likely to be culled; Final Score seems to be an important selection criteria among Quebec producers. Feet and Legs, Rump and Mammary System are traits that producers consider in their culling policies; cows classified with a high score had more chance of surviving. Among the linear type traits, the 5 traits with the highest impact on productive life, were Rear Attachment Height, Fore Attachment, Bone Quality, Stature and Fore Teat Placement; Quebec producers seem to consider these traits when they make their culling decisions.

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The objective of this study was to estimate the relationship between survival at various stages of productive life (17, 30, 43, 55 and 96 months of productive life) and type traits in Quebec Holstein and Ayrshire cows. The original data set from the Programme d'Analyse des Troupeaux Laitiers du Quebec contained 559,203 lifetime records calculated from 2,237,081 lactation records including calvings from 1979 to 1995. Lifetime records containing type classification information provided by the respective breed associations were used to study true survival variables (opportunity to survive to 17, 302 43, 55 and 96 months) and functional survival variables opportunity to survive to the same ages, independently of the level of production). K. Meyer's EQREML program was used to analyse these data by fitting a sire model. Heritabilities varied between 0.03 and 0.11 for both breeds. Final score and rear udder were two of the traits most highly correlated with survival. Specifically, in Holsteins, mammary system and fore udder showed the highest genetic correlation with functional survival, and dairy character showed the highest genetic correlation with true survival. In Ayrshires, final score, breed character, dairy quality, style and fore udder had the highest genetic correlations with both true and functional survival across all survival stages. In a second study, lifetime records not having type information and type records without lifetime information were analysed with D. L. Johnson and R. Thompson's AIREML program which enabled linking of sires in common between type and lifetime data sets. Only survival to 96 months was studied here, but the effect of supervised and non-supervised records was considered. In Holstein supervised records, body traits were more highly correlated with survival, whereas udder traits were more highly correlated in the non-supervised records. Ayrshire results were not conclusive.

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This trial was carried out in order to elucidate factors affecting milk urea nitrogen (MUN). Twenty-five herds were selected for MUN testing. Three sampling periods were chosen. The first occurred during the months of March and April, the second during July and August, and the third during November and December 1997. A total of 2,686 samples were collected and analyzed. Two different methods were employed for MUN analysis and were referred to as the Macdonald Campus method (MUN-MAC) and the Programme d'Analyse des Troupeaux Laitiers du Quebec method (MUN-P.A.T.L.Q.). The MUN-MAC consists of an enzymatic method while the P.A.T.L.Q. method is an infra-red method. Prior to initiation of the trial, the MUN-MAC method was validated and found suitable for use in this experiment. The results demonstrated that the factors which significantly contributed to the models were the ration's net energy of lactation, season, region, somatic cell count, total dry matter, neutral detergent fiber, non-structural carbohydrates, total fat, crude protein, protein to energy ratio, starch to protein ratio, parity and days in milk. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

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