Effect of early calving of Simmentaler heifers under an extensive management system

Abstract

Productivityo f Simmentalerheif'erfslr,s t mateda t l4 monthso f age( 2M) comparedto the traditionasl ystemo f matinga t 26 monthso f age (3 M), was investigatedu ndere xtensivefa rmingc onditionsB. oth first calving (60.8 vs. 79.5Va)a nd recalvingr ates( 42.4v s.7l.2Va)d iffered( P < 0.01)b etween2 M and3 M heifers,r espectivelyA.l thought otal numbero f calvesb orn (4.0 vs. 3.2)a ndw eaned( 3.3v s. 3.1)o vers eveny earsd iffered( P < 0.0-5b) etween2 M and3 M, totalw eaning weight( 669 vs. 64-5k g) wasn ot significantly(P > 0.0-5i)n fluencedA. lso, 18.67oo f all calvesb orn in 2 M, died at birth.It is concludedth ati mprovedp roductivityis unlikelyi n an earlym atings ystemw ithouta dditionailn puts.

Produktiwiteivt anS immentalerverswea t vir die eerstem aalo p l4 maande(2 M), vergelekem etd ie tradisionelest elsevl an paringo p 26 maande( 3 M), gepaari s, is ondere kstensiewvee ldtoestandoen dersoekS. owele erstek alwings-( 60.8 vs. 79.57oa) sh erkalwingspersentas(t4e2s. 2v s.7 l .27o)heto nderskeidelitku ssen2 M en 3 M verskil( P < 0.01).A thoeweld ie totalea antalk alwerso or sewej aar gebore( 4.0 vs. 3.2) en gespeen(3 .3 vs.3.l) ook verskilh et,i s die totales peengewig (669 vs. 645 kg) nie betekenisvobl einvloedn ie (P > 0.05).V erderi s 18.6%v an die totale aantalk alwersi n 2 M gebore, tydensg eboorted ood. Daar is tot die gevolgtrekkingg ekom dat dit onwaarskynliki s dat vroeep aring sondera ddisionele insette produktiwiteit sal kan verhoog.

Keywords: Beef cattle, early mating, productivity, Simmentaler.