By Distl, O., Zuchtungskunde, 1999
Description
Culling due to claw and leg problems has reached in the meantime nearly the same importance as culling due to mastitis and udder health. Investigations in different European countries concluded that more than 50% of all cows are suffering from foot and leg problems. Breeding for foot and leg soundness has to focus on claws because most lameness problems arise from there. To be effective, judgements of legs and locomotion in young cows and bulls as well as claw measures in young bulls should be used as selection criteria for young bulls, sires of sons and bull dams. Claw measures can be recorded very accurately cheaply, and the heritabilities are high enough to achieve a substantial genetic response. The indirect selection pathway via the German Fleckvieh young bull could be shown as useful to introduce claw measures into a breeding programme. The genetic correlations between claw measures of German Fleckvieh young bulls and their daughters proved to be high enough for an effective indirect selection on soundness of feet and legs in future cows. Selection in young bulls has to be based on claw measures, hardness of claw horn and careful judgements of legs weighted according to their relative value for disease resistance and longevity of future progeny. The same strategy of selection for soundness of feet and legs can also be employed in young bulls of the breed German Holsteins as shown by the results obtained. The analysis of the relationships among claw measures of young bulls and functional productive life shows that female relatives survive longer as the size of claws increases. Further investigations should analyse the correlations between claw traits of young bulls and diseases of legs and claws of cows.
Culling due to claw and leg problems has reached in the meantime nearly the same importance as culling due to mastitis and udder health. Investigations in different European countries concluded that more than 50% of all cows are suffering from foot and leg problems. Breeding for foot and leg soundness has to focus on claws because most lameness problems arise from there. To be effective, judgements of legs and locomotion in young cows and bulls as well as claw measures in young bulls should be used as selection criteria for young bulls, sires of sons and bull dams. Claw measures can be recorded very accurately cheaply, and the heritabilities are high enough to achieve a substantial genetic response. The indirect selection pathway via the German Fleckvieh young bull could be shown as useful to introduce claw measures into a breeding programme. The genetic correlations between claw measures of German Fleckvieh young bulls and their daughters proved to be high enough for an effective indirect selection on soundness of feet and legs in future cows. Selection in young bulls has to be based on claw measures, hardness of claw horn and careful judgements of legs weighted according to their relative value for disease resistance and longevity of future progeny. The same strategy of selection for soundness of feet and legs can also be employed in young bulls of the breed German Holsteins as shown by the results obtained. The analysis of the relationships among claw measures of young bulls and functional productive life shows that female relatives survive longer as the size of claws increases. Further investigations should analyse the correlations between claw traits of young bulls and diseases of legs and claws of cows.
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