Breeding for polledness in Holstein cattle

Windig, J.J.; Hoving-Bolink, Rita; Veerkamp, R.F.

doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2015.05.021

Cited by 49 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Although dehorning remains a short-term solution for managing these issues, it is a procedure that will likely continue unless all farmed cattle become polled and dehorning is no longer required [4]. Recently, genetic research and commercial testing have successfully identified homozygous polled alleles to facilitate the selective breeding of polled cattle [5,6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Topical Anaesthesia on the Cortisol Responses of Calves Undergoing Dehorning

Espinoza

Lomax

Windsor

2020

Animals

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Dehorning causes pain and distress to cattle, and there is a need to provide effective and practical analgesia to improve animal welfare. We conducted an experiment to determine the effect of a modified post-operative topical wound management formulation containing two local anaesthetics (TA) on the plasma cortisol concentration (PCC) of scoop-dehorned calves. Two months old Holstein-Friesian heifer calves (n = 30) were randomly allocated to sham dehorning control (CON), scoop dehorning (D), or scoop dehorning with immediate post-operative application of the TA (DTA). Blood samples were obtained via jugular venepuncture prior to sham or actual dehorning, and 40 min, 1.5, 4 and 24 h later. PCC changed significantly over time (p < 0.01). There was a trend for lower PCC in DTA calves compared to D calves (p = 0.09), with the PCC area under the curve lowest in CON calves as compared to D and DTA calves (p = 0.02). Cortisol concentrations were similar between D and DTA at all time points. The TA did not reduce cortisol concentrations up to 24 h following treatment and the cortisol response likely reflects the pain induced by the procedure, the effect of handling and restraint, and haemorrhaging which limited adherence of the TA actives. A multimodal analgesic approach, as assessed through multiple pain indicators, should be the focus of future work.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Topical Anaesthesia on the Cortisol Responses of Calves Undergoing Dehorning

Espinoza

Lomax

Windsor

2020

Animals

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“…For example, between 2010 and 2013, the number of polled Holstein bulls registered with the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) increased from 14 to 74 (Spurlock et al, 2014). An evaluation of Dutch and Canadian breed associations yielded similar findings, with the number of polled sires increasing from 33 to more than 150 between 2009 and 2014 (Windig et al, 2015), and a reduction in the overall merit index gap between horned and polled sires. That is, between 2009 and 2014, the gap in total merit index decreased from 180 points, or about 18 years of selection, to 149 points, or just 5 years of genomic selection.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…As interest in polled dairy cattle genetics has grown in recent years, differences in the genetic merit or genetic potential of polled versus horned sires has received a lot of attention. Although polledness does not seem to alter production performance (Cole et al, 2009;Windig et al, 2015), a recent review of AI sires in the United States indicated that not only is there limited availability of bulls carrying the polled gene but, on average, these animals currently sacrifice genetic merit relative to their horned counterparts due to intense selection pressure for production attributes in the dairy industry, in particular in the Holstein breed (Spurlock et al, 2014). Thus, the limited number of polled individuals limits the opportunity to identify polled sires with elite genetic merit for production traits.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Polled animals have always existed in cattle populations, but intense selection for production attributes in the dairy industry has suppressed polledness in the population, making polled sires rare and often inferior in terms of production relative to their horned counterparts. Nonetheless, the genetic alteration responsible for polledness, contrary to previous speculation, does not appear to affect production performance (Cole et al, 2009;Windig et al, 2015). Incorporating polled genetics into a breeding program has been proposed by the AVMA (2014) as an alternative to dehorning given its potential to eliminate the welfare concerns and expenses associated with dehorning.…”

Section: Economic Considerations Of Breeding For Polled Dairy Cows Vementioning

confidence: 99%

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Economic considerations of breeding for polled dairy cows versus dehorning in the United States

Thompson¹,

Widmar²,

Schutz

et al. 2017

Journal of Dairy Science

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This paper examines the costs and benefits of selecting for polled dairy heifers versus traditional dehorning practices. Stochastic budgets were developed to analyze the expected costs (EC) associated with polled dairy genetics. The economic assessment was expanded beyond on-farm cash costs by incorporating cost and benefit estimates to generate industry-wide discussion, and preliminary economic evaluations, surrounding the public acceptance and attitude toward polled genetics versus dehorning calves. Triangular distributions, commonly used to represent distributions with limited data, were used to represent labor costs for dehorning, the likelihood of treatment of calf, and the cost of veterinary treatment. In total, 10,000 iterations were run using @Risk v 6.0 (Palisade Corp., Newfield, NY). The EC of the 4 traditional dehorning methods evaluated in this study ranged from $6 to $25/head, with a mean EC around $12 to $13/head. The EC of incorporating polled genetics into a breeding program ranged from $0 to $26/head depending on the additional cost, or premium, associated with polled relative to horned genetics. Estimated breakeven premiums associated with polled genetics indicate that, on average, producers could spend up to $5.95/head and $11.90/head more for heterozygous and homozygous polled genetics, respectively, compared with conventional horned genetics (or $2.08 and $4.17/straw of semen at an assumed average conception rate of 35%). Given the parameters outlined, sensitivity to individual farm semen and dehorning costs are likely to swamp these differences. Beyond on-farm costs, industry-wide discussion may be warranted surrounding the public's acceptance and attitude toward polled genetics versus dehorning or disbudding of calves. The value of avoiding dehorning may be larger for the industry, and perhaps some individual farms, than initially suggested if additional value is put on calf comfort and possible worker aversion to dehorning. If public perception of dehorning influences market access, the EC of dehorning may be large but that cost is unknown at present.

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“…The mutations may be involved in gene regulation and translation processes through unconventional mechanisms as speculated by the presence of antisense sequences caused by similar insertions disturbing normal function of horn growth associated genes (Allais-Bonnet et al 2013; Wiedemar and Drögemüller 2015). However, their association with polledness provides opportunities for genetically selecting animals to produce naturally polled cattle (Prayaga 2007;Spurlock et al 2014;Windig et al 2015). Notably, P C and P F are the most frequent mutations observed in the majority of breeds in production systems globally, and hence are the focus of this study.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimized Genetic Testing for Polledness in Multiple Breeds of Cattle

Randhawa

Burns²,

McGowan

et al. 2020

G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics

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Many breeds of modern cattle are naturally horned, and for sound husbandry management reasons the calves frequently undergo procedures to physically remove the horns by disbudding or dehorning. These procedures are however a welfare concern. Selective breeding for polledness – absence of horns – has been effective in some cattle breeds but not in others (Bos indicus genotypes) due in part to the complex genetics of horn phenotype. To address this problem different approaches to genetic testing which provide accurate early-in-life prediction of horn phenotype have been evaluated, initially using microsatellites (MSAT) and more recently single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). A direct gene test is not effective given the genetic heterogeneity and large-sized sequence variants associated with polledness in different breeds. The current study investigated 39,943 animals of multiple breeds to assess the accuracy of available poll testing assays. While the standard SNP-based test was an improvement on the earlier MSAT haplotyping method, 1999 (9.69%) out of 20,636 animals tested with this SNP-based assay did not predict a genotype, most commonly associated with the Indicus-influenced breeds. The current study has developed an optimized poll gene test that resolved the vast majority of these 1999 unresolved animals, while the predicted genotypes of those previously resolved remained unchanged. Hence the optimized poll test successfully predicted a genotype in 99.96% of samples assessed. We demonstrated that a robust set of 5 SNPs can effectively determine PC and PF alleles and eliminate the ambiguous and undetermined results of poll gene testing previously identified as an issue in cattle.

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Breeding for polledness in Holstein cattle

Cited by 49 publications

References 19 publications

The Effect of Topical Anaesthesia on the Cortisol Responses of Calves Undergoing Dehorning

The Effect of Topical Anaesthesia on the Cortisol Responses of Calves Undergoing Dehorning

Economic considerations of breeding for polled dairy cows versus dehorning in the United States

Optimized Genetic Testing for Polledness in Multiple Breeds of Cattle

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