China Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine ›› 2023, Vol. 50 ›› Issue (1): 230-237.doi: 10.16431/j.cnki.1671-7236.2023.01.023

• Genetics and Breeding • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Influencing Factors Analysis and Genetic Parameters Estimation of Muzzle Width in Holstein Dairy Cows

FU Qi1, YU Houmo1, ZHANG Hailiang1, XU Jingyi1, HU Yuyang1, DUAN Yujiao1, ZHOU Yueling1, HUANG Siqi1, ZHANG Yayi2, GUO Gang2, YU Ying1, WANG Yachun1   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China;
    2. Beijing Sunlon Livestock Development Co., Ltd., Beijing 100029, China
  • Received:2022-05-16 Online:2023-01-05 Published:2023-01-04

Abstract: 【Objective】 This study was aimed to reveal the population characteristics, and estimate the genetic parameters of muzzle width in Chinese Holstein dairy cows.【Method】 The muzzle width, rump height, body height, body length and chest girth of 628 Holstein dairy cows was measured in two dairy farms from July 2021 to August 2021.The body weight was estimated by body length and chest girth.SPSS 26.0 software was employed to analyze the impacts of herd, month and lactation stage on muzzle width, and obtain the correlation coefficient between muzzle width and body size traits.The variance components of muzzle width were estimated using single-trait animal model based on DMU software, and its heritability was calculated.【Result】 The muzzle width of Holstein dairy cows was 17.28 cm with a small variation (variation coefficient of 5%).Herd and month had extremely significant effect on muzzle width (P<0.01), lactation stage had significant effect on muzzle width (P<0.05), and muzzle width increased with the increase of month.Muzzle width in early lactation was significantly smaller than that in other lactation stages (P<0.05).The extremely significant and positive correlations between muzzle width and body size traits were found in Holstein dairy cows (P<0.01).The estimated heritability of muzzle width in Holstein dairy cows was 0.28, which was a moderate to high heritability trait.【Conclusion】 The herd and month had an extremely significant effect on muzzle width, and the lactation stage had a significant effect.The muzzle width was weakly correlated with rump height.The muzzle width was a body size trait with moderate to high heritability in Holstein dairy cows.

Key words: Holstein dairy cows; muzzle width; body size trait; genetic parameter

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