Onset of puberty and early-life reproduction in Angus females divergently selected for post-weaning residual feed intake

Article

<< Previous

Next >>

Contents Vol 51(3)

doi:10.1071/AN10097

Food, Fibre and Pharmaceuticals from Animals

	Search




	Advanced Search



	Journal Home

	About the Journal

	Editorial Board

	Contacts



	Content

	Online Early

	Current Issue

	Just Accepted

	All Issues

	Special Issues

	Research Fronts

	Reviews

	Sample Issue



	For Authors

	General Information

	Notes for Authors

	Submit Article

	Open Access



	For Referees

	Referee Guidelines

	Review Article



	For Subscribers

	Subscription Prices

	Customer Service

	Print Publication Dates

New Feature

New Commenting Tool
Join the conversation and leave comments on all new journal articles.

e-Alerts

Subscribe to our Email Alert or

feeds for the latest journal papers.

Connect with us

Onset of puberty and early-life reproduction in Angus females divergently selected for post-weaning residual feed intake

K. A. Donoghue ^A ^B, P. F. Arthur ^A ^C ^F, J. F. Wilkins ^A ^D and R. M. Herd ^A ^E

^A Cooperative Research Centre for Beef Genetic Technologies, C. J. Hawkins Homestead, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.
^B Industry and Investment NSW, Agricultural Research Centre, Trangie, NSW 2823, Australia.
^C Industry and Investment NSW, Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, Menangle, NSW 2568, Australia.
^D Industry and Investment NSW, Wagga Wagga Agricultural Institute, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2650, Australia.
^E Industry and Investment NSW, Beef Industry Centre, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.
^F Corresponding author. Email: paul.arthur@industry.nsw.gov.au

Animal Production Science 51(3) 183-190 http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/AN10097
Submitted: 17 June 2010 Accepted: 15 November 2010 Published: 7 March 2011





	PDF (218 KB) $25



	Export Citation

Print

Abstract

Angus cattle that had been divergently selected for Low and High post-weaning residual feed intake (RFI) were used in two projects to evaluate early-life reproductive performance and onset of puberty in females. In the first project, data on the 1999-born females (n = 64) were evaluated for weight, subcutaneous fat (P8 fat depth) and reproductive performance over two breeding cycles. These females that were the result of 1.0–2.5 (mean of 1.8) generations of selection, had mean (±s.e.) post-weaning RFI of –0.82 ± 0.19 kg/day and 0.57 ± 0.18 kg/day for the Low and High RFI selection lines, respectively. In the second project, ultrasonography was used to scan the ovaries of the 2008-born heifers (n = 121) on four occasions following weaning. In these heifers the presence of corpus luteum provided evidence of ovulation, and hence the commencement of onset of puberty. The average of the estimated breeding value (EBV) for RFI of the parents of the Low RFI and the High RFI selection line heifers were –0.72 ± 0.05 and 0.37 ± 0.03 kg/day, respectively. In the first project, no significant selection line differences were evident for weight, age at first mating, pregnancy and calving rates (percentage of females that were pregnant, or the percentage that calved out of the total number used for mating), calf birthweight and weight of calf born per female exposed to bull. Females from the Low RFI line had significantly (P < 0.05) lower P8 fat depth relative to their High RFI contemporaries at most of the measurement dates (e.g. 9.2 ± 0.5 versus 12.0 ± 0.5 mm at the start of first mating). Low RFI females also calved significantly (P < 0.05) later in the calving season than High RFI females (35.7 ± 3.0 versus 27.6 ± 2.4 days). The results indicate that there is a delayed pregnancy date during the first mating season leading to a later calving date for the Low RFI heifers. The later first calving date was then maintained at subsequent calving. The later calving, however, did not impact on pregnancy and calving rates. In the second project, it was observed that irrespective of selection line, heifers that had attained onset of puberty had significantly (P < 0.05) greater P8 fat depth than those that had not. Hence the expectation was that, relative to High RFI heifers, the Low RFI heifers with their lower P8 fat, will attain onset of puberty at a slightly older age. This expected trend was observed but the difference was not significant, and further investigations are recommended.

References

Archer JA, Arthur PF, Parnell PF, van de Ven RJ (1998) Effect of divergent selection for yearling growth rate on female reproductive performance in Angus cattle. Livestock Production Science 57, 33–40.
| CrossRef |

Archer JA, Richardson EC, Herd RM, Arthur PF (1999) Potential for selection to improve efficiency of feed use in beef cattle: a review. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 50, 147–161.
| CrossRef |

Arthur PF, Archer JA, Herd RM, Melville GJ (2001a) Response to selection for net feed intake in beef cattle. Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 13, 135–138.

Arthur PF, Archer JA, Johnston DJ, Herd RM, Richardson EC, Parnell PF (2001b) Genetic and phenotypic variance and covariance components for feed intake, feed efficiency and other postweaning traits in Angus cattle. Journal of Animal Science 79, 2805–2811.
| CAS | PubMed |

Arthur PF, Renand G, Krauss D (2001c) Genetic and phenotypic relationships among different measures of growth and feed efficiency in young Charolais bulls. Livestock Production Science 68, 131–139.
| CrossRef |

Arthur PF, Herd RM, Wilkins JF, Archer JA (2005) Maternal productivity of Angus cows divergently selected for post-weaning residual feed intake. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 45, 985–993.
| CrossRef |

Basarab JA, McCartney D, Okine EK, Baron VS (2007) Relationships between progeny residual feed intake and dam productivity traits. Canadian Journal of Animal Science 87, 489–502.
| CAS |

Chelikani PK, Ambrose JD, Kennelly JJ (2003) Effect of dietary energy and protein density on body composition, attainment of puberty, and ovarian follicular dynamics in dairy heifers. Theriogenology 60, 707–725.
| CrossRef | CAS | PubMed |

Garcia MR, Amstalden M, Morrison CD, Keisler DH, Williams GL (2003) Age at puberty, total fat and conjugated linoleic acid content of carcass, and circulating metabolic hormones in beef heifers fed a diet high in linoleic acid beginning at four months of age. Journal of Animal Science 81, 261–268.
| CAS | PubMed |

Herd RM, Archer JA, Arthur PF (2003) Reducing the cost of beef production through genetic improvement in residual feed intake: opportunity and challenges to application. Journal of Animal Science 81, E9–E17.

Honaramooz A, Aravindakshan J, Chandolia RK, Beard AP, Bartlewski PM, Pierson RA, Rawlings NC (2004) Ultrasonograph evaluation of the pre-pubertal development of the reproductive tract in beef heifers. Animal Reproduction Science 80, 15–29.
| CrossRef | PubMed |

Hughes TE, Pitchford WS (2004) Does pregnancy and lactation affect efficiency of female mice divergently selected for postweaning net feed intake? Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 44, 501–506.
| CrossRef |

Johnston DJ, Barwick SA, Corbet NJ, Fordyce G, Holroyd RG, Williams PJ, Burrow HM (2009) Genetics of heifer puberty in two tropical beef genotypes in northern Australia and association with heifer- and steer-production traits. Animal Production Science 49, 399–412.
| CrossRef |

Mialon M-M, Renand G, Krauss D, Ménissier F (1999a) Puberty of Charolais heifers in relation to growth rate. 1. Phenotypic variability. Annales de Zootechnie 48, 413–426.
| CrossRef |

Mialon M-M, Renand G, Krauss D, Ménissier F (1999b) Puberty of Charolais heifers in relation to growth rate. 2. Genetic variability. Annales de Zootechnie 48, 427–434.
| CrossRef |

Moran C, Quirke JF, Roche JF (1989) Puberty in heifers: a review. Animal Reproduction Science 18, 167–182.
| CrossRef |

Morris CA, Amyes NC (2005) Response to selection for age at puberty in an Angus herd. Proceedings of the Association for Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 16, 157–160.

Nielsen MK, Freking BA, Jones LD, Nelson SM, Vorderstrasse TL, Hussey BA (1997) Divergent selection for heat loss in mice. 2. Correlated responses in feed intake, body mass, body composition, and number born through fifteen generations. Journal of Animal Science 75, 1469–1476.
| CAS | PubMed |

Pierson RA, Ginther OJ (1988) Ultrasound imaging of the ovaries and uterus in cattle. Theriogenology 29, 21–37.
| CrossRef |

Rauw WM, Luitung P, Bakken M, Schuurman T, de Veer CJM, Vangen O (2000) Behavioural differences in non-reproductive adult females in a long-term selection experiment for litter size in mice. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 66, 249–262.
| CrossRef |

Yelich JV, Wettemann RP, Dolezal HG, Lusby KS, Bishop DK, Spicer LJ (1995) Effect of growth rate on carcass composition and lipid partitioning at puberty and growth hormone, insulin-like growth factor I, insulin, and metabolites before puberty in beef heifers. Journal of Animal Science 73, 2390–2405.
| CAS | PubMed |

Subscriber Login

	Username: Password:

Legal & Privacy | Contact Us | Help