Genetic parameters for milk production traits and breeding goals for Gir dairy cattle in Brazil.

To implement an animal breeding program, it is important to define the production circumstances of the animals of interest to determine which traits of economic interest will be selected for the breeding goal. The present study defined breeding goals and proposed selection indices for milk production and quality traits of Gir dairy cattle. First, a bioeconomic model was developed to calculate economic values. The genetic and phenotypic parameters were estimated based on records from 22,468 first-lactation Gir dairy cows and their crosses for which calving occurred between 1970 and 2011. Statistical analyses were carried out for the animal model, with multitrait analyses using the restricted maximum likelihood method. Two situations were created in the present study to define the breeding goals: 1) including only milk yield in the breeding goal (HGL1) and 2) including fat and protein in addition to the milk yield (HGL2). The heritability estimates for milk, protein, and fat production were 0.33 ± 0.02, 0.26 ± 0.02, and 0.24 ± 0.02, respectively. All phenotypic and genetic correlations were highly positive. The economic values for milk, fat, and protein were US$0.18, US$0.27, and US$7.04, respectively. The expected economic responses for HGL2 and for HGL1 were US$126.30 and US$79.82, respectively. These results indicate that milk component traits should be included in a selection index to rank animals evaluated in the National Gir Dairy Breeding Program developed in Brazil.

Comparaçäo de alguns modelos matemáticos para o ajuste às curvas de lactaçäo individuais de vacas da raça Caracu / Comparison of some mathematical models for the adjustment of individual lactation curves of Caracu cows

Foram ajustadas 7239 curvas de lactaçäo de vacas Caracu, controladas semanalmente entre os anos de 1978 a 1988, pertencentes à Fazenda Chiqueiräo, Poços de Caldas, MG. As funçöes utilizadas foram a linear hiperbólica (FLH), a quadrática logarítmica (FQL), a gama incompleta (FGI) e a polinomial inversa (FPI). Os parâmetros foram estimados por meio de regressöes näo lineares, usando-se processos iterativos. A verificaçäo da qualidade do ajuste baseou-se no coeficiente de determinaçäo ajustado (R²A), no teste de Durbin-Watson (DW) e nas médias e desvios-padräo estimados para os parâmetros e funçöes dos parâmetros dos modelos. Para a curva média, os R²A foram superiores a 0,90 para todas as funçöes. Bons ajustes, baseados nos R²A>0,80 foram obtidos, respectivamente, por 25,2 por cento, 39,1 por cento, 31,1 por cento e 28,4 por cento das lactaçöes ajustadas pelas funçöes FLH, FQL, FGI e FPI. De acordo com o teste de DW, bons ajustes foram proporcionados para 29,4 por cento das lactaçöes ajustadas pela FLH, 54,9 por cento pela FQL, 34,9 por cento pela FGI e 29,6 por cento pela FPI. Para ambos os critérios, a FQL foi superior às demais funçöes, indicando grande variaçäo nas formas das curvas de lactaçäo geradas pelos ajustes individuais. Curvas atípicas foram estimadas pelas funçöes, com picos ocorrendo antes do parto e algumas vezes após o término da lactaçäo. Todas as funçöes apresentaram problemas quando ajustaram dados individuais