Stayability in Simmental cattle as affected by muscularity and body condition score between calvings

Giovanni Buonaiuto; Nicolas Lopez-Villalobos; Angela Costa; Giovanni Niero; Lorenzo Degano; Ludovica Maria Eugenia Mammi; Damiano Cavallini; Alberto Palmonari; Andrea Formigoni; Giulio Visentin

doi:10.3389/fvets.2023.1141286

Stayability in Simmental cattle as affected by muscularity and body condition score between calvings

Front Vet Sci. 2023 Mar 24:10:1141286. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1141286. eCollection 2023.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Medical Science, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
² School of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
³ Department of Agronomy, Food, Natural Resources, Animals and Environment, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
⁴ National Association of Italian Simmental Cattle Breeders (ANAPRI), Udine, Italy.

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the association between stayability (STAY) traits, muscularity, and body condition score (BCS) in the Italian Simmental dual-purpose cows. Data were collected from 2,656 cows linearly scored in their first lactation from 2002 to 2020 and reared in 324 herds. The binary trait STAY, which is the ability of a cow to stay in the herd, was obtained for each cow-lactation available up to parity 5 (from STAY1-2 to STAY4-5). Analysis of STAY was carried out using logistic regression, considering the fixed effect of energy corrected milk, conception rate, somatic cell score, and muscularity or BCS predicted at different time points. The herd of linear classification and residual error were the random effects. Primiparous cows with a medium BCS and muscularity in early lactation presented a more favorable STAY across life compared to thinner ones (P < 0.05). In fact, cows with an intermediate BCS/muscularity were more likely to stay in the herd after the third lactation (STAY3-4), compared to those presenting a lower BCS/muscularity (P < 0.01). However, cows whose muscularity was high were generally less likely to start the third lactation compared to the others. A potential explanation for this could be the willing to market cows with good conformation for meat purpose. Simmental is in fact a dual-purpose breed known for the good carcass yield and meat quality. This study demonstrates how muscularity and BCS available early in life can be associated with the ability of Simmental cows to stay in the herd.

Keywords: culling; dual-purpose cows; functional longevity; resilience; survival rate.

Grants and funding

This study was carried out within the Agritech National Research Center and received funding from the European Union Next-Generation EU [Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (PNRR)—Missione 4 Componente 2, Investimento 1.4 – D.D. 1032 17/06/2022, CN00000022]. This manuscript reflects only the authors' views and opinions, neither the European Union nor the European Commission can be considered responsible for them.