Fertility and longevity in the Reggiana cattle breed

Abstract

Comparisons between commercial and local breeds should be based on both productive and functional traits. Proper performance evaluations of local breeds may enlighten possible strong points and provide elements for conservation decisions. The analysis of functional traits, such as fertility, milkability, longevity and disease resistance is required for developing sustainable breeding programs (Olesen et al., 2000). This study is part of a project aimed to compare productivity between Reggiana and Italian Holstein herds (Maltecca et al., 2000; Bagnato et al., 2001). Here we report on fertility and longevity traits...........

Keywords

• dairy cattle, local breeds, fertility, longevity