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VikingNews AU 2019-1
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t here are definitely many opinions about the opti- mal size of the
cow
. some would say that she should be smaller, others that she should be larger and others again that a group of animals should be uni- form and medium-sized. at vikinggenetics, our focus in the vikingholstein
breeding
programme is that the
cow
should not be- come any taller ? or any smaller for that matter. the optimal size as stated in the
breeding
goal is 148 cm and the breed average is 148.6 cm at the moment for first calvers. vikingholstein
cow
on average today, is close to the economic optimum ? what we indicate as a medi- um-sized
cow
. the medium-sized
cow
is the most economical there are good arguments for
breeding
for a medi- um-sized
cow
, and the main one is the most economical
cow
. she has a longer productive lifetime, less disease cases, such as hoof problems and needs less feed to maintain. table 1 shows the genetic correlations that confirm this. some people prefer a large
cow
that can convert much roughage into milk and with higher slaughter value. it is true that there is positive correlation between a large
cow
and yield, but it is also a fact that the medium-sized
cow
is the most profitable because of its lower costs and longer lifetime and overall a more efficient
cow
. height influences lifetime production
cow
s
taller than 155 cm produce significantly less solids (-193 kg) than
cow
s of classification optimum height (148-150 cm) , see table 2. on the other hand, very small
cow
s (135-140 cm) have lower lifetime production (-31 kg) compared to
cow
s of classification optimum. vikingholstein compared to other holstein the size of the vikingholstein
cow
compared with the hol- stein
cow
in other countries has been evaluated. the com- parision of the major holstein populations in the world with holstein
cow
sizes and development includes all daughter proven bulls in the countries and data from 80,000 bulls. the conclusion is crystal clear. by claus langdahl,
breeding
manager vikingholstein holstein study by seges investment in genetics that pays off - medium sized
cow
s medium sized
cow
s produce more fat and protein and live longer than taller or smaller
cow
s according to a study conducted by seges. our optimal size, as stated in our
breeding
goal for vikinghostein, is 148 cm. trait correlation to stature yield (kg milk) +18 female fertility -14 udder health -16 hoof health -20 longevity -35 table 1: health traits and correlation to stature bigger
cow
s might have more yield but bad performance on other important traits as fertility, udder health, hoof health and longevity. source: rasmus s. stephansen, ulrik sander nielsen and anders fogh, seges ? published in the magazine ?dansk holstein? #3 ? 2017. 4 vikingnews | march 2019
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