Influence of the father on reproductive traits in cows of the Aberdeen Angus cattle breed, reared in an organic farm

Radka Malinova, Svetoslav Karamfilov

Abstract: The reproductive capacity of 142 cows of the Aberdeen Angus cattle breed reared in the certified organic farm THRACE ANGUS FARM Ltd, Bulgaria was analyzed. The cows subject to the study (born in Bulgaria – 81; born in Germany – 61)were daughters of bulls born in Germany. The Aberdeen Angus cows reared in Bulgaria had a service period of 50.30 ± 8.05 days and a calving period – 335.09 ± 8.07 days on average. The age of first calving was, on average, 24.5 ± 1.60 months. The fathers and the consecutive calving had a reliable influence (p<0.05) on the service period and the calving period of the daughters. The country of birth had no influence on the reproductive traits analyzed by us. Similarly, the fathers and the country of birth did not influence the age of first calving. The shortest service and calving interval was observed in the cows on their third calving.

Keywords: Aberdeen Angus, bulls, reproduction, origin

Date published: 2022-11-02