Genetic analysis of dystocia in dairy cattle

Breeding values and genetic parameters for dystocia were estimated in Normande and Holstein breeds. Dystocia scores were related to an underlying continuous variable via a threshold model. The underlying linear model included the effects of calving season, sex of calf by parity of dam, sire of calf, grandsire of calf, dam within maternal grandsire and herd-year effects. Typical results were found for the environmental effects, with a strong influence of dam parity on dystocia, a strong influence of sex of calf, and a small effect of calving season. Herd-year variances were 32 and 40% of the residual variance in the Normande and Holstein breeds, respectively. Heritabilities for the Normande (Holstein) breed were .08 (.07) for direct effects and .11 (.07) for maternal effects. Correlations between sire and grandsire effects were .51 and .36 for the Normande and Holstein breeds, respectively. The corresponding correlations between direct and maternal effects were .15 and -.09. The results of this study show that a complete model for dystocia including the threshold concept and maternal effects can be applied for routine evaluation of dairy AI bulls. Maternal effects are important, and they should be considered in dystocia analysis, especially if nonrandom mating is present. Selection for reducing dystocia in calf and cow effects are not antagonistic.