Effects of plane of nutrition and season of birth on the age and body weight at puberty of British Friesian heifers

Little, W.; Mallinson, C.B.; Gibbons, Diana N.; Rowlands, G.J.

doi:10.1017/s0003356100031652

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In the main this variation has little effect on W P , so that there appears to be a minimum, or critical, weight for the attainment of puberty, and the variation of growth consequently affects A P , the faster-growing individuals reaching puberty earlier. This relationship has been found, for example, in cattle by Crichton, Aitken & Boyne (1959), Dalton et al (1980), Little et al (1981); in rats by Wilen & Naftolin (1978); in chickens by Soller et al (1982); and in man (i.e. girls) by Frisch (1972).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Weight and age at puberty in female and male mice of strains selected for large and small body size

Falconer¹

1984

Genet. Res.

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Puberty was studied in mice of the ninth selected generation of the Q-strain. There were 6 replicate lines selected for large body size (6-week weight), 6 replicates selected for small size and 6 replicate unselected controls. Female puberty was assessed by the opening of the vagina and male puberty by the first copulation plug. The sexes differed in the mean age at puberty, males being older by 13 days in the large, 4 days in the control and 8 days in the small lines. The sexes differed also in the way size affected puberty. In males the large and small lines reached puberty at the same age and both were older than the controls. In females the large lines on average were heavier and younger at puberty than the controls, and the small lines were lighter and older than the controls, though not significantly older. The replicates within each size-group, however, reached puberty at about the same weight, irrespective of their differences in growth rate. Thus, the differences of growth between the large, control and small groups affected both the weight and the age of females at puberty, but the differences of growth between the replicate lines within each size affected only the age at puberty. No explanation was found for this inconsistency between size-groups and replicates. Several lines of evidence led to the conclusion that in females puberty is partly or mainly weight-dependent, whereas in males it is almost wholly age-dependent.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Weight and age at puberty in female and male mice of strains selected for large and small body size

Falconer¹

1984

Genet. Res.

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“…Enright et al (1995) showed that a 16-h daylight regimen reduced the age of puberty in comparison with an 8-h daylight treatment and Petitclerc et al (1983) noted that heifers exposed to longday photoperiods had higher growth rates than those exposed to short photoperiods. Little et al (1981) reported that heifers born in spring (when daylight was increasing) were lighter and younger at puberty than those born during autumn (decreasing daylight length). A long-day photoperiod (16 v. 8 h of daylight) increased mammary parenchymal weight by 40% in peri-pubertal heifer and by 30% in post-pubertal heifer (Petitclerc et al, 1985).…”

Section: Nutritional Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rearing strategy and optimizing first-calving targets in dairy heifers: a review

Cozler

Lollivier

Lacasse

et al. 2008

Animal

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Much research has been carried out and published on dairy replacement management, in order to rear heifers as efficiently as possible, from both a technical and economical point of view. In most cases, the aim is to rear the heifers at the lowest cost possible without any deleterious effects on future performances. However, the importance of dairy heifer husbandry is not sufficiently well recognized and probably mishandled by most farmers. The present review aims to give an actual overview of rearing procedures in dairy heifers and possible ways to achieve optimal goals. For many years, it has been well known that rapid rearing lowers the age of sexual maturity and consequently may be an efficient way to reduce the non-producing period prior to conception. But this may impair mammary development and consequently future milk production, at least during first lactation. In addition, a growth rate that is too low may not only be costly but also result in animals that are too fat at first calving, creating problems such as calving difficulties, dystocia, etc. Genetic considerations must also be factored, i.e. frame, size, body weight, etc. have changed during the last 20 years and there are differences between breeds. As a result, some time-honoured recommendations may not be appropriate. The present paper reviews factors and management practices that may affect rearing and subsequent performance of dairy heifers.

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“…The mechanism through which season of birth may affect first oestrus (FE) is not yet well understood: it may be nutritional in the 'quality' of nutrients assimilated, particularly for grazing animals; it may be behavioural as the animals' activity level varies with season and the young females are in differing stages of development; or more probably a complex interaction among several basic determinants. The latter conclusion is supported by results from, particularly, Little et al (1981), and to a lesser degree by Menge, Mares, Tyler and Casida (1960) and Hawk, Tyler and Casida (1954). These studies, however, considered season a categorical phenomenon, and grouped heifers by season of birth for further statistical analysis.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…Recent experiments with Friesian heifers, (Roy. Gillies, Perfitt andStobo, 1980 andLittle, Mallinson, Gibbons andRowlands, 1981) found a relationship between age at puberty and season of birth. Roy et al (1980) also found that the occurrence of puberty was associated with the lunar phase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Effect of daylength at birth and lunar phase on the occurrence of first oestrus in beef heifers

Greer

1984

Anim. Sci.

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Data records from 556 beef heifers which included age at first oestrus (AFE) were used to test the null hypotheses: 1) daylength at birth is not a determinant of AFE in beef females; and 2) there is not an association between the day on which first oestrus occurred and the lunar phase.The effect of daylength at birth was measured by forming a variable, X,, where X, = sine (X,' 360/365-25)°, and including it among the set of variables in a multiple linear regression equation with AFE as the dependent variable. The resultant estimated coefficient on X, was -3-617 with a standard error of 21-32, and led to the conclusion that daylength at birth was not a factor which affected AFE in this group of beef heifers.The lunar phase hypothesis was tested by forming the frequency distribution of the 556 observations of first oestrus over the 30-day lunar cycie. The chi-square test was applied with the theoretical (hypothesized) distribution being the uniform distribution. The value of the test statistic was such that the null hypothesis would not be rejected even with an a value approaching 0-50. Additionally, coefficients of autocorrelation calculated for lag phases of 7, 14 and 21 days were quite small. Thus it was concluded that the occurrence of first oestrus was uniformly distributed over the lunar cycle.

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Effects of plane of nutrition and season of birth on the age and body weight at puberty of British Friesian heifers

Cited by 21 publications

References 9 publications

Weight and age at puberty in female and male mice of strains selected for large and small body size

Weight and age at puberty in female and male mice of strains selected for large and small body size

Rearing strategy and optimizing first-calving targets in dairy heifers: a review

Effect of daylength at birth and lunar phase on the occurrence of first oestrus in beef heifers

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