Genetic evaluation for stillbirth and preweaning mortality in Australian dairy cattle

The welfare of calves is important to both farmers and consumers. Practices that increase the proportion of calves born alive and enable them to thrive through to weaning contribute to improved sustainability. Stillbirths (SB) are calvings where the calf dies at birth or within 24 h after birth. Preweaning mortality (PWM) refers to calves that die after the first day of life but before weaning based on termination data. Both SB and PWM are binary traits characterized by low heritability. Data collection for these traits is incomplete, compared with traits such as milk yield in cows. Despite these challenges, genetic variation can be measured and used to produce breeding tools, such as EBVs, to reduce calf mortality over time. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of various linear models to predict SB and PWM traits in Holstein and Jersey cattle and evaluate their applicability for industry-wide use in the Australian dairy industry. Calving records from around 2.25 million Holstein and Jersey dams were obtained from DataGene's Central Data Repository from the year 2000 onward, to calculate genetic parameters. About 7% of calves were recorded as SB in the period from 2000 to 2021 (n = 1.48 million calvings). The prevalence of PWM was much lower than SB during the same period at 2% (n = 0.89 million calves). Genetic parameters were estimated for SB direct, SB maternal, and PWM using bivariate linear models with calving ease (CE) as the second trait in the model. The heritability of these calf traits was low and varied between 1% and 5% depending on the breed, trait, and model. In Holstein cattle, heritabilities were 2% for PWM and SB direct and 1% for SB maternal, whereas in Jersey cattle heritabilities were 5% for PWM, 2% for SB direct, and 1% for SB maternal. The genetic trends for both SB direct and SB maternal in Holstein cattle indicate improvement in both traits, whereas there was no apparent increase or decrease in PWM in the past 2 decades. The coefficient of genetic variation for SB direct and PWM was between 11.7% and 23.0% in Holstein and Jersey cattle, demonstrating considerable genetic variation in calf survival traits as a first step to using genetic selection to increase the proportion of calves born alive and calves weaned. A focus on improved calf and calving recording practices is expected to increase the reliability of genetic predictions.