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Collaborative project: Innovative methods to improve calf health and life effectiveness - development of a management tool and elaboration of the new breeding characteristic "calf vitality" for genomic selection in the Holstein Friesian breed - subproject A (KalbVital)
Project
Project code: 281C809A21
Contract period: 01.09.2023
- 31.10.2026
Budget: 406,766 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research
Keywords: prevention, animal welfare, animal breeding
Successful calf rearing forms a crucial basis for the restocking of high-yielding, long-lived dairy cows and has a significant impact on the profitability of milk production. The PraeRi study (2020) documented the animal health on German dairy farms and led to sensational results: the average mortality rate of female calves up to the end of the 3rd month of life was 5.4% and the prevalence of a disease varied depending on the age of the calf and the disease between 5 and 30%. Numerous recent studies show that poor development of the calves in the first few weeks of life has drastic consequences for the long-term performance of the animal when it is later used as a dairy cow. Against this background, another question is whether there is a genetic disposition for calf vitality in relation to long-term development as a dairy cow. Hitherto the established trait RZKälberfit in breeding Holstein Friesians has only concealed the genetic influence of a calf's ability to survive up to the age of 15 months. In addition, there is insufficient documentation on many dairy farms. Health and vitality of the calves, so that a simple management tool to classify the calves in terms of their vitality would be very helpful for the later replacement decision. The aim of the KalbVital project is to to make calf vitality documentable for the farmer using simple parameters and to classify the calf in this regard with a traffic light system. At the same time, investigations of genetic factors influencing calf vitality and the development of a database for a genomic breeding value estimation are carried out, which can be used in breeding for improved animal health and robustness of dairy cows as well as a longer useful life and improved life effectiveness.
Section overview
Subjects
- Animal health
