Test-day genetic analysis of condition score and heart girth in Holstein Friesian cows

This study aimed to estimate heritability for condition score and heart girth using a test-day model, to investigate the genetic relationships between condition score, heart girth, and milk yield traits and to analyze the genetic relationships of condition score and heart girth measured at different stages of lactation. Cows from 25 dairy herds were scored for body condition and measured for heart girth at 3-mo intervals for 2 yr. Approximately 5000 test-day observations on condition score, heart girth, and milk fat and protein yield from 1344 Italian Friesian cows were analyzed using two approaches: 1) repeated observations for a trait were considered repeated measurements of the same trait; 2) observations for a trait collected in different stages of lactation (dry period, 1 to 75, 76 to 130, 131 to 210, and 211 to 300 DIM) were treated as different traits. (Co)variance components and related parameters were estimated using REML multiple-trait procedures and animal models with unequal design for different traits. Heritability estimates for fat and protein test-day yield and for test-day condition score and heart girth were 0.22, 0.18, 0.29, and 0.33, respectively. Condition score was negatively correlated with yield traits and positively correlated with heart girth, whereas genetic relationships between heart girth and milk yield traits were negligible. Heritability estimates were 0.27 for condition score recorded in the first half of lactation (1 to 75 and 76 to 130 DIM), 0.36 for condition score in the second half of lactation (131 to 210 and 211 to 300 DIM) and 0.32 for condition score recorded on dry cows. Genetic correlations between condition scores measured in different lactation stages were generally high (0.85 or more), with the exception of the relationships between the first and the last stage of lactation (0.74) and between the first half of lactation and the dry period (0.7). Heritability estimates for heart girth in different lactation stages ranged from 0.31 to 0.40, and genetic correlations between high girth measured in different lactation stages were higher than 0.80.