Influence of recipient dams of different breeds on performance of Japanese Black calves produced by embryo transfer

Abstract. To clarify the effect of breed of recipient dams on the performance of calves produced by embryo transfer(ET), a total of 35 ET-calves were divided into 4 groups by the breed of recipient of Holstein-Friesian dams (HF), crossbred (Holstein×Japanese Black) dams (F1), Japanese Black dams (JB) and also JB dams without colostrum but received an artificial colostrum as a negative control (NC). Twenty calves produced by artificial insemination to JB dams were also provided as a positive control (PC). Calves in JB, HF, F1 and PC were placed with their dams for the first 7 days of age. Those in the NC group were kept in an individual pen. All calves were moved to individual pens on day 8, and were given the same commercial milk replacer. Calves were weaned at 61 days of age. Mean live weights at birth were not significantly different among groups except for calves of HF that were greater than other groups (p < 0.05). Mean daily gains also showed no significant differences among groups including PC and NC. All calves were in good healthy condition, which was also supported by changes in the level of blood parameters, irrespective of the breed of their dams. It is concluded that there was no appreciable effect of the breed of recipient dams on calf performance. The artificial colostrum powder feeding did not show any adverse effect on the performance of ET-calves, although serum protein and globulin tended to be lower.