Weaning mass was studied for 753 calves out of Africander cows by Africander, Brahman, Charolais, Hereford and Simmental sires. Crossbreds performed 11.1 per cent to 11.8 per cent better than Africander controls. Charolais progeny had a significantly greater weaning mass than Hereford and Simmentaler progeny with Brahman progeny in an intermediate position. When all cases of dystocia were taken into consideration, however, the net weaning mass output per cow calved for Simmental, Brahman and Hereford bulls was considerably better than that for Charolais and Africander bulls

Coetzer, W.A.

Els, D.L.

Mentz, A.H.

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Crossbreeding with Africander dam as basis. 3. Post-weaning growth performance of progeny of various sire-breeds

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Crossbreeding with Africander dam as basis. 2. Weaning performance of progeny of various sire breeds

S Afr .  J.  Anim. Sci .  9,205-208 (197q )CROSStsREEDING WITH AFRICANDER DAM AS BASIS. 2. WEANING PERFORMANCEOF PROGENY OF VARIOUS SIRE BREEDSReceipt of MS I 9-04-1979A.H. Mentz,  D.L.  Elst  and W.A. CoetzerVaalharts Agriculrural Reseurch Station, Jan Kempdorp, 8550(Key words: Cattle, crossbreeding, weaning mass)(Sleutehvoorde: Beeste, kruisteling, speenmassa)OPSOMMING. KRUISTELING MET AI..RIKANERKO[,I AS BASIS : 2. SPEENPRESTASIE VAN NAGESLAG VAN VERSKIL.LENDE VAARRASSESpeenmasa van 753 kalwers, afkomstig uit Afrikanerkoeie en Afrikaner-, Brahman-, Charolais-, Hereford- en Simmentalerbulle,is bestudeer. Kruisgeteelde kalwers het tussen I l, l persent en I I,8 persent beter presteer as Afrikanerkontroles. Charolaiskruise hetbetekenisvol groter speenmassas gehad as Hereford- en Simmentalerkruise met Brahmankruise in 'n intermedi6re posisie. Deur egtervoetstoots teen alle distokiegevalle te diskrimineer, wzls die netto speenmassa opbrengs per koei gekalf vandie Simmentaler-, Brahman-en Herefordbulle aansienlik beter as did van Charolais- en Alrikanerbulle.SUMMARY..Weaning mass was studied for 753 calves out of Afncander cows by Africander, Brahman, Charolais, Hereford and Simmentalersires- Crosbreds performed I l, l per cent to I1,8 per cent better than Africander controls. Charolais progeny had a significantly greaterweaning mass than Hereford and Simmentaler progeny with Brahman progeny in an intermediate position. When all cases of dystociawere taken into consideration, however, the net weaning mass output per cow calved for Simmentaler. Brahman and Hereford bulls wasconsiderably better than that for Charolars and Africander bulls.The production of a weaner calf, whether for im-mediate marketing or for subsequent growing out orbreeding, can be considered as the initial phase in theproduction cycle of beef in extensive beef cattle farming.The importance of the reproduction phase in the beefproduction cycle is evident from the estimate that 52per cent of all nutrients can be allocated to the cow andcalf to weaning, 32 per cent for fattehing weaners andl6 per cent for the rearing of replacements (Harwin &lombard, 1974\.In the extensive beef cattle areas of South Africaan average of eight to twelve hectares of grazing is re-quired per cow for the annual production of a weanercalf. Thus, the value of the weaner must compensatefor the interest on capital outlay to carry one cow unitplus redemption and production costs to produce theweaner. Efficiency of beef production is, therefore,largely dependent on the production of the optimumnumber and mass of weaner calves per hundred cows ata reduced cost per breeding unit.Selective crossing of beef breeds can materiallycontribute to the achievement of this aim as shown bySmith, laster and Gregory (1976), but it is most im-portant to maintain a correct perspective of the biologi-cal implications of increasing preweaning gowth andthus bull-breeds should be evaluated in the light ofacceptable limits of their progeny's growth performanceand related information (Smith et al., 1976, Barlow,1978). In view of these considerations the weaning per-formance of progeny obtained by employing varioussire-breeds with the Africander as dam was evaluated.ProcedureMateiolThe origin of the experimental animals has beendescribed by Mentz, Coetzer and Els (1975) and is theprogeny of Africander cows bred to Africander, Brah-man, Charolais, Hereford and Simmentaler bulls at Vaal-harts Agricultural Research Station.ManagementDuring the weaning season of approximately threemonths (May, June, July and August) the cow-herds*Agriculrural Research Insilrute, Glen, q360205were brought into handling units every fortnight to iden-tify calves due to be weighed and/or weaned. When acalf reached the age of 2 I 0 days during a l44ay period,it was weighed at the begrnning and end of each period.From these data the 2loday interpolated mass of eachcalf was calculated. Calves were weighed in the earlymorning after having been isolated from their damsduring the night. The calves were weaned on the day ofthe second weighing.Statistical analysisThe data were subjected to regression analysisby least squares procedures (Harvey, 1960). The modelincluded the effects of sire-breed, production status/ageof cow, year, sex and order of birth. Only first orderinteractions were considered. Least significant differen-ces, at the 5 per cent level, were calculated by themethod of  Scheffe (Mi l ler ,  1966).Discussion of resultsFrom the results given in Table l, i t is clear thatall main effects were highly significant. The significantinteraction between sex and order of birth is inexpli-cable while the interaction between year and order ofbirth may be ascribed to the variation in the nutritionalstatus of the grazng between yeius. The interactionbetween sire-breed and yeu is illustrated in Fig. Iwhich shows a striking variation in the relative positionof especially the Simmentaler progeny. This tendencycan be explained by the fact that a new set of bulls foreach breed was used for breedins each vear.Table IMean squ$es for weaning mossSo u rce df Mean squaresaa .At--'-'A = AfricanderB = BrahmanC = CharolaisH = llerefordS = SimmentalerFig. I Interaction between sire-breed ond ys(u' 17,,weaning mossTable 2 shows the least squares means for weaningmass and the effect of the individual factors. It is moststriking that an increase in weaning mass of from I l,lper cent up to I 1,8 per cent was obtained by crossingthe Africander with any of the four exotic breeds in-volved. As was expected, the Charolais crosses per-formed especially well (Mentz, Ccletzer, Verrneulen& Coetzee, 1974; Smith et  o l . ,  1976) and weaned sig-nificantly better than the Hereford and Simmentalercrosses. The relative effect of the various sire-breedson weaning mass followed the same trend as in the caseof birth mass (Mentz et al., 1975). This result is a logi-cal confirmation of the relationship which exists be-tween birth and weaning mass per se, as documentedby Preston & Wil l is  (1970) and Bar low (1978).  How-ever, the prominent difference between the Charolaisand Simmentaler progeny is not in agreement with theresults of Smith et al. (1976) .For a realistic interpretation of the results, thegross weaner production per cow calved per bull-breed,the commercial value of such calves and the effect ofsire-breed on the subsequent fertility of the cow shouldhave brought into consideration. Due to the somewhatextensive nature of the investigation, control on all in-formation desired was not achieved. Thus. no commer-ciai value was placed upon each kilogram of weanerproduced per bull-breed. Furthermore, it was not possi-ble to study the effect of sire$r€ed on the reproductiveability of the cow as artificial insemination was partlys rC oBoH.CHBSa 190JnF  1 8 0{'E l '703 1601 5 0Sire breed (SB) 4Product ion status/age of  cow (PSA) 6Year 4Sex IOrder of  buth (Order)  2SB x  PSA 24S B  x  Y e a r  1 6S B x S e x  4SB x  Order  8PSA x Year 24PSA x Sex 6PSA x  Order  12Year x Sex 4Year x Order 8Sex x Order 2lrrror 337Residual (higher order interaction) 290l 0  379 { ' *2  65  l * ' f8  9 3 3 * *7  5 7 8 * *6  3 9 8 * *2-s l656*450l 9 l4633 7 57 8645gg2*  *I  780* *329946***  p<  o ,o5 * *  p <  0 , 0  I206Table 2Least square means for weaning mass (kg) and the effect of each individual factorIndependent variablesl,east squaresmeans*EffectOverall meanSire breedAfricanderBrahmanCharolaisHerefordSimmentalerProduction status**lage of damHeifer; 3 years (yr)Heifer; 4yrl-actatng; 4 yrI -ac ta t ing ;  5 to8yrLactating; 9 to 12 yrD r y ;  S t o S y rDry; g to 12 yrYear1967I 9681969r970r97 |SexFemaleMaleOrder of birthEarlylntermediatel,ate7 s 3202132143l t 01 6 6I  l 5603 522384r156 11 0 8215160147t ) 33703831 8 8 , 7l69 ,gal  g3 ,5bclgg,6b1 8 8 , 5 clg2,oc178,44I g l . 5 4t s+,sab190,5b188,4b197,6c199,9c198,24192,74192,54l 6 4 , l b1 9 5 , 8 4l  g3.7a193,6b195,ga'9 l ,2bl78,gc-18 ,94,9l0 ,g- 0,23 l-10 ,3- 7 )-  4 ,21 , 80,28,911,29,54,03,8-24,67 )-  5 ,05 ,0'7 ''? s-  9,81 9 4, l  t2241*Means within each factor that do not have at ieast**Description of dam previous to calving.applied and with very unsatisfactory results (Coetzer,Mentz, Vermeulen & Coetzee, 1975). With regard to thefertility of cows, it is well known that fertility is detri-mentally affected by dystocia and the production ofheavy calves (Brinks, Olson & Carroll, 1973; laster.Glimp, Cundiff & Gregory, 1973; Smith et al., 1976;Barlow, 1978). Therefore in order to place the resultsof this investigation into better perspective, it was de-cided to adjust for the effects of dystocia (Mentz et al.,1975), and to compare the net weaner output per cowfor the various sire-breeds. The results of these calcula-tions are as followsAfricander controls : 164,7 kilogram per cowBrahman crosses : 177 ,6klogrirm per cowCharolais crosses : 167,7 ktlognrm per cowHereford crosses : 174,0 kilogram per cowSimmentaler cross€s : 178,8 kilogrirm per cow.It is evident that there was very little difference in thenet weaner production of the Brahman, Hereford andSimmentaler crosses and that these crosses producedone conrmon superscript differ significantly (p . 0,05).considerably more weaning mass than the Charolaiscrosses. There was also very little difference between thelatter and the Africander controls in this respect.In conclusion it may be postulated that the pre-weaning performance of calves is by no means the onlynorrn by which the potential of various breeds for cross-breeding with the Africander as well as their ultimateusage in crossbreeding systems can be evaluated. Indeed,the approach strould be to eliminate unfavourable breedcornbinations which result in calves that are too growthyand thereby cause heavy calf losses, management pro-blems and depressed herd fertility, rather than to placetoo much emphasis on weaning mass per seAcknowledgementThe authors are indepted to Mr. J.A. Vermeulenand Mr. J.E. Coetzee for their invaluable technical assis-tance during this study.207ReferencesBARLOW, R., 1978. Biological ramifications of selection for preweaning rowth in cattle. A review. Anim. Breed.Abstr .  46,469 .BRINKS, J.S.,  OLSON, J.E. & CARROLL, E.J . ,  lgJ 3.  Calv ing di f f icul ty and i ts associat ion wi th subsequent product i -vity in Herefords.J. Anim. Scr. 36, I l.COETZER,  W.A. ,  MENTZ,  A .H. ,  VERMEULEN,  J .A .  &  COETZEE,  J .E . ,  1915.  Resu l ta te  verk ry  met  K I  by  A f r i kaner -en Jerseykoeie onderekstensiewe toestande in Noord-Kaapland.S.Afr. Tydskr. Veek 5, I I l .HARVEY, W.R., 1960. Least-squares analysis of data with unequal subclass numbers. U.S.D.A., 4.R..t , ARS-20-8.HARWIN, G.O. & LOMBARD, J.H . , l9 l4. lntensi f icat ion of  the beef-cow herd.  S. Afr .  J.  Anim. Sci .  4,247 .LASTER, D-8. ,  GLIMP, H.A.,  CUNDIFF, L.V. & GREGORY, K.8. ,  1913. Factors af fect ing dystocia and the ef fectsof dystocia on subsequent reproduction in beef cattle. J. Anim.,Scl. 36, 695.MENTZ, A.H.,  COETZER,W.A. & ELS, D.L. ,  1975. Kruistel ing met die Afr ikanermoer asbasis.  l .  Dragt igheidsduurte,geboortemassa en die voorkoms van distokie by die nageslag van verskillende rasse van vaars. S. Afr. TydskrV e e k  5 . 5 3 .MENTZ,  A .H. ,  COETZER,  W.A. ,  VERMEULEN,  J .A .  &  COETZEE,  J .E . ,  1914.  V le isproduks ie  met  Jerseymoer  asbasis. 2. Die produksiepotensiaal van verskil lende kruisgeteelde Jerseynageslag. S. Ali. Tydsl<r. Veek.4,203.MILLER, R.G., 1966.Simultaneous stotistical inf'erence. New York, McGraw-Hill.PRESTON, T.R. & WILLIS, M.8,, 1970. Intensive beeJ-production. Oxford, Pergamon Press.SMITH, GM.,  LASTER, D.B. & GREGORY, K.E.,1916. Character izat ion f  b io logical  types of  cat t le.  l .  Dystociaand preweaning rowth . J. Anim Sci. 43,27 .208

Post-weaning growth performance was studied for 342 steers out of Africander cows and by Africander, Brahman. Charolais, Hereford and Simmental sires. In a system of intensive fattening, the latter three Bos taurus sire-breed progeny-groups performed strikingly better than the former two Bos indices sire-breed progeny-groups. Under ranching conditions, however, all crossbred groups outperformed the Africander controls. The progeny from both Bos indicus sire-breeds performed relatively better under ranching conditions than under intensive conditions. The simmentaler crossbreds also performed relatively better under the extensive conditions. Charolais and Hereford progenies, however, performed relatively better in the improved nutritional system

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Crossbreeding with Africander dam as basis. 2. Weaning performance of progeny of various sire breeds

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