Evaluation of the productive qualities of donor cows and cow’s families by transmission capacity

Purpose: To assess the productive qualities of donor cows, taking into account the transmitting capacity of their families. To study the possibility of using this criterion to predict the breeding qualities of descendants.Materials and methods. The assessment of the transmitting ability of animals was carried out according to the System for assessing the breeding qualities of dairy cattle by transmitting ability (2010). A genealogical database of first-calf heifers in herd «Petrovsky» (more than 9500 heads) has been formed. The estimation of the transmitting capacity of productive traits of 111 families, to which 132 cows from the donor herd belonged, was carried out.Results. It was found that 44 donors belonged to the «best» families in terms of milk yield and 348 embryos were frozen from them. From 31 donors from the «worst» families in terms of milk yield, 199 embryos were frozen. Linear profiles of families were compiled according to the characteristics of their transmitting capacity for five indicators of milk productivity. It is shown that the probability that the descendants of cows from the «worst» families in terms of transmitting ability will have high rates for the trait we are interested in is approximately 18–20%. In families of the «best» category, this probability is 45% or more.Conclusion. Evaluation of productive traits in terms of transmitting capacity is an important additional criterion when choosing the most valuable cows as embryo’s donor. Compilation of linear profiles of families allows you to obtain objective information about their breeding value in relation to productive traits.