Young stock survival is a trait of crucial importance in cattle breeding as calf mortality leads to economic losses and represents an animal welfare issue. The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters and sire breeding values for young stock survival in beef x dairy crossbred calves. Two traits were analysed with a univariate animal model: young stock survival between 1 to 30 days and 31 to 200 days after birth. Breed combinations with Belgian Blue sires outperformed all other sire breeds. The lowest survival rates were found for breed combinations with Jersey dams or Blonde d'Aquitaine sires. The results showed low but significant heritabilities (0.045 to 0.075) for both survival traits. Differences in breeding values between sires ranged from -2.5% to 3.5% and from -5.4% to 4.7% survival from 1 to 30 days and 31 to 200 days, respectively. Based on these findings, we concluded that it is feasible to breed for improved young stock survival in beef x dairy crossbred calves. This will hopefully contribute to increasing the survival rate of the calves and reduce economic losses for the farmers.

中文翻译：

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牛肉x乳品杂交小牛的年轻种群存活的遗传参数估计。

幼畜的存活是牛育种中至关重要的一个特征，因为小牛死亡率会导致经济损失，并代表着动物福利问题。这项研究的目的是为牛肉x乳品杂交小牛的年轻种群存活率评估遗传参数和父系育种值。使用单变量动物模型分析了两个特征：出生后1到30天到31到200天之间的年轻种群存活率。比利时蓝父本的品种组合表现优于所有其他父本品种。与泽西水坝或金发阿基坦大公的品种组合的成活率最低。结果表明，两种生存性状的遗传力均较低，但很明显（0.045至0.075）。父系之间的育种值差异在-1至30天和31至200天的存活率范围为-2.5％至3.5％和-5.4％至4.7％，分别。基于这些发现，我们得出结论，在牛肉x乳品杂交小牛中进行育种以提高幼畜存活率是可行的。这有望提高小牛的成活率并减少农民的经济损失。