Statistic and genetic parameters of 205-day weaning weight of beef calves

Abstract. The aim of the study was to do genetic evaluation of the 205-day weaning weight of pure bred herds of different beef cattle breeds kept in Hungary and supply results for genetic programmes of different breeds.

Population genetic analysis was performed on data from 42695 purebred beef calves from seven breeds born from 1981 to 2005 in Hungary. Animal model was used for the estimations. Sire, herd, age of dam at calving, birth year, season of birth and sex of calf had significant effects on 205-day calf weaning weight for each breed. Significant breed differences and breed overlaps were found. Direct heritability value estimates were 0.18 to 0.61, the maternal heritability values from 0.07 to 0.38, and the total heritability values were between 0.09 and 0.35. The direct-maternal genetic correlations were high and negative for all the breeds varying from −0.63 to −0.88.