The Abstract Type Traits of Primiparous Holstein-Friesian and Red-Holstein Cows Raised Together in a Farm in Aydın Province

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare the type traits of Holstein-Friesian (HF) and Red-Holstein (RH) cows that are in their first lactation and reared mixed in a private farm in Aydın province, Türkiye. In this study, 120 heads composed of HF and RH primiparous cows were used and the effects of breed, calving year (2023 and 2024) and calving age (<26 mo and 26 mo ≤) on type traits were also investigated. Five non-linear 100 score traits and 18 linear type traits were measured. The effect of breed on Chest Width (CW; P<0.01), Rump Angle (P<0.05), Body Condition Score (P<0.01), Rear Legs Set Angle (RLA; P<0.01), Real Legs Knee Structure (P<0.05), Rear Udder Width (P<0.01), Udder Depth (UD; P<0.01), Central Ligament (P<0.05), Rear Udder Height (P<0.01), Fore Teat Length (P<0.05) and Mammary Acuity (P<0.01) were found statistically significant and the overall mean scores for these traits were 5.32±0.13, 6.97±0.17, 4.83±0.09, 4.87±0.08, 5.04±0.09, 5.74±0.09, 4.73±0.04, 5.37±0.08, 8.35±0.08, 5.38±0.08 and 7.32±0.17, respectively. Also, the effect of calving year on Body Depth (P<0.01), UD (P<0.05) and Rear Teat Placement (P<0.05) and the effect of calving age on CW (P<0.05), RLA (P<0.05) and Rear Teat Placement (P<0.05) were found statistically significant. For non-linear 100 scores, the breed effects on Dairy Strength (DS; P<0.01), Foot & Legs (FL; P<0.05), Udder (P<0.01) and Total Score (TS; P<0.01) were significant and the means were 82.30±0.17, 83.12±0.15, 81.63±0.11, 83.98±0.09 and 83.03±0.07, respectively. As result, the significant breed effect found in some type traits shows that HF and RH genotypes, which differ only in color genes, have been considered and reared as different breeds since the 1950s, causing significant differences in some type traits of these two genotypes.