ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2018, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (5): 935-941.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2018.05.008

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Heritability Estimation of SCS Difference and Its Variation in Chinese Holstein Cattle in Beijing

SHI Liang-yu1, ZHANG Rui-qiang1, LI Xiang1, Serafino Musa Abdelkarim Augustino1, Muhammad Zahoor Khan1, LIU Lin2, XIAO Wei3, TANG Shao-qing3, ZHANG Yi1, WANG Ya-chun1, YU Ying1*   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China;
    2. Beijing Dairy Center, Beijing 100085, China;
    3. Beijing Animal Husbandry Station, Beijing 100029, China
  • Received:2017-11-27 Online:2018-05-23 Published:2018-05-23

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to investigate the heritability of somatic cell score (SCS) difference and analyze its changing pattern in Chinese Holstein population in Beijing. Dairy herd improvement (DHI) data of 78 386 Chinese Holstein dairy cows (from 1998 to 2016) obtained from 121 different dairy farms in Beijing were analyzed by the least square method and the SCS difference was calculated using DHI data between the SCSs of the current test-month and the previous test-month. The variance components and heritability of SCS difference were estimated by the linear mixed model and DMU software. The results revealed significant effect (P<0.01) of herd scale, test year, test season, parity, calving season and current lactation month on SCS difference. The estimated heritability of SCS difference in the current study was (0.054±0.003) for Chinese Holstein cows in Beijing. Among them, the heritability of SCS difference in the first, the second and the third parities were (0.070±0.005),(0.045±0.004), (0.052±0.007), respectively. Since the SCS difference is regarded as a timely simply indicator to detect the occurrence of subclinical mastitis, the estimated heritability of SCS difference might be helpful in the selection practice of resistance to subclinical mastitis in Chinese Holstein cattle.

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