Factors Affecting Gestation Length in Gir Cattle
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48165/ijvsbt.19.3.17Keywords:
Gestation length, Gir cattle, Month of service, Sex of calf, Parity, PeriodAbstract
The present study was planned to understand the factors affecting gestation length in nulliparous and pluriparous Gir cows. A cumulative ten years (2010-2019) full term calving record (n = 1272) of Gir cows were incorporated. The overall mean gestation length of Gir cattle was 283.29 ± 0.16 days. It was shortest in 8th and above parities and longest in 7th parity Gir cows (282.39 and 285.84 days, respectively); with statistically significant (p<0.05) difference. The gestation length remained almost similar from nulliparous to 6th parities cows (ranged from 283.10 to 283.74 days) and the values were more or less close to the overall mean of gestation length. The mean gestation length in cows having female calf was 1.4 days shorter than those with male calf (282.60 vs. 283.99 days). There was period wise significant variation of gestation length in Gir cows (p<0.05). The Gir cattle served during December and March had shortest and longest mean gestation length (282.22 and 284.40 days), respectively; the difference was statistically significant (p<0.05). The mean gestation length across different calving months varied significantly (p<0.05). Season of service and season of birth did not affect gestation length in Gir cattle. The results showed that Gir cows are less affected for gestation length by different factors throughout the year.
Downloads
References
Al-Samarai, F.R. (2008). Some factors influencing gestation length in Holstein cows. Life Sciences International Journal, 2(4), 774-778.
Bakir, G., & Cilek, S. (2009). A research on reproductive traits of Holstein cattle reared at Tahirova state farm in Balikesir Province in Turkey. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 8(11), 2383-2387.
Bhutkar, S.S., Thombre, B.M., & Bainwad, D.V. (2014). Studies on effect of non–genetic factors on reproduction traits in Holstein Friesian x Deoni cows. Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science, 7(12), 15-19.
Dhakal, K., Maltecca, C., Cassady, J.P., Baloche, G., Williams, C.M., & Washburn, S.P. (2013). Calf birth weight, gestation length, calving ease, and neonatal calf mortality in Holstein, Jersey, and crossbred cows in a pasture system. Journal of Dairy Science, 96(1), 690-698.
Gunawan, A., Jakaria, J., & Parwoto, Y. (2013). Genetic and non-genetic effect on gestation length and calf survival at weaning in Bali cattle. Jurnal Ilmu Produksi dan Teknologi Hasil Peternakan, 1(3), 179-183.
Hansen, M., Lund, M.S., Pedersen, J., & Christensen, L.G. (2004). Gestation length in Danish Holsteins has weak genetic associations with stillbirth, calving difficulty, and calf size. Livestock Production Science, 91(1-2), 23-33.
Kumar, A., Mandal, A., Gupta, A.K., & Ratwan, P. (2016). Genetic and environmental causes of variation in gestation length of Jersey crossbred cattle. Veterinary World, 9(4), 351-355.
McClintock, S., Beard, K., Gilmour, A., & Goddard, M. (2003). Relationships between calving traits in heifers and mature cows in Australia. Interbull Bulletin, 31, 102-106.
Menale, M., Mekuriaw, Z., Mekuriaw, G., & Taye, M. (2011). Reproductive performances of Fogera cattle at Metekel cattle breeding and multiplication ranch, North-West Ethiopia. Journal of Animal and Feed Research, 1(3), 99-106.
Menon, K., Rojan, P.M., Kumar, N.S., & Prasad, V. (2014). Factors affecting birth weight and gestation period of crossbred cattle and relationship between them in intensive farming system. Indian Journal of Dairy Science, 67(2), 158-161.
Messine, O., Schwalbach, L.J.M., Mbah, D.A., & Ebangi, A.L. (2007). Non-genetic factors affecting gestation length and postpartum intervals in Gudali zebu cattle of the Adamawa highlands of Cameroon. Tropicultura, 25(3), 129-133.
Nogalski, Z., & Piwczynski, D. (2012). Association of length of pregnancy with other reproductive traits in dairy cattle. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 25(1), 22-27.
Norman, H.D., Wright, J.R., Kuhn, M.T., Hubbard, S.M., Cole, J.B., & VanRaden, P.M. (2009). Genetic and environmental factors that affect gestation length in dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 92(5), 2259-2269.
Parikh, S.S., Savaliya, B.D., Patbandha, T.K., & Makwana, R.B. (2022). Calf, dam and sire factors affect birth weight of Gir calves. Indian Journal of Veterinary Science and Biotechnology, 18(2), 49-53.
Patbandha, T.K., Sabapara, G.P., Savaliya, B.D., Dash, S.K., Parikh, S.S., & Ali, M. (2020). Physical characteristics and production performance of Gir cattle in India. International Journal of Livestock Research, 10(8), 1-11.
Petrovic, M.D., Bogdanovic, V., Bogosavljevic-Boskovic, S., & Djokovic, R. (2010). Effect of systematic factors on gestation length in Simmental cows. Acta Agriculturae Serbica, 15(29), 31-37.
Potdar, V.V., Phadke, N.L., & Khadse J.R. (2017). Genetic and environmental causes of variation in gestation length of dairy cattle. International Journal of Tropical Agriculture, 35(3), 735-743.
Przysucha, T., & Grodzki, H. (2009). Influence of chosen factors on beef breed cows’ pregnancy length. Roczniki Naukowe Polskiego Towarzystwa Zootechnicznego, 5, 65-72.
Silva, H.M., Wilcox, C.J., Thatcher, W.W., Becker, R.B., & Morse, D. (1992). Factors affecting days open, gestation length, and calving interval in Florida dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 75(1), 288-293.
Sobek, Z., Nienartowicz-Zdrojewska, A., Rozanska-Zawieja, J., & Siatkowski, I. (2015). The evaluation of gestation length range for different breeds of Polish dairy cattle. Biometrical Letters, 52(1), 37-45.
Talukder, M.A.I., & Panandam, J.M. (2008). Genetic and non-genetic factors affecting gestation length and calve birth weight of Sahiwal-Friesian crossbred groups. The Agriculturists, 6(1), 1-8.
Turkyilmaz, M.K. (2005). Reproduction characteristics of Holstein cattle reared in private dairy cattle enterprise in Aydin. Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 29(4), 1049-1052.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
