Preliminary results on crossbreeding Jerseys with Fleckvieh sires

8 CROSSBREEDING
Little information is available in
South Africa on the effect of crossbreeding
dairy cows. Most crossbreeding
trials in other countries
have been conducted with Holsteins
while Jerseys have received
little attention being a breed with
relatively small numbers. The objective
of this study is to compare
the total income (milk and beef production)
of Jersey and Fleckvieh x
Jersey cows in an intensive feeding
system.
Materials and Methods
The study is being conducted at
the Elsenburg Research Station of
the Western Cape Department of
Agriculture. Elsenburg is situated
approximately 50 km east of Cape
Town at an altitude of 177m, longitude
18° 50’ and latitude 33° 51’
and is in the winter rainfall region
of South Africa. The area is characterised
by cool wet winters and
long dry summers. The Jersey
herd at Elsenburg was divided into
two groups according to age
and estimated breeding value for
milk yield. Groups were allocated
randomly to two treatments, i.e.
breeding with (i) Jersey or (ii)
Fleckvieh sires. In the following
breeding period, treatments will
be switched and female animals
All feed intake is measured at the research
facilities
Table 1:
The number and growth performance of all bull and
heifer calves born from Fleckvieh and Jersey sires
in the Elsenburg Jersey herd
Sire used
Parameters Jersey Fleckvieh
Number of cows calving down 31 32
Live weight of dams before calving (kg) 452 457
Number of calves born alive 28 26
Birth weight of calves (kg) 26.4 31.9
Number of calves at last weighing 24 26
Age at last weighing (days) 190 154
Live weight at last weighing (kg) 124.7 125.4
Average daiy gain (kg) 0.435 0.557
Calculated live weight at 6 m of age (kg) 106.5 133.5
will be inseminated with sires
from the other breed.
All pure- and crossbred bull and
heifers calves born from these
matings in the herd are being reared
in the same way. Heifers are
reared to calve down at approximately
24 months of age while
bull calves are reared to be marketed
at either six or 24 months of
age. The bull calves marketed at
six months of age are being reared
intensively for veal production.
Bull calves reared for beef
are castrated with a Burdizzo at
about three months of age and
reared on pasture from six
months of age. They receive a
concentrate supplementation of
2 kg per animal per day up to
12 months of age.
Heifers receive a calf starter meal
containing 18 % CP ad libitum
from 7 days of age until 2 months
of age. A growth meal containing
15 % CP is then provided ad libitum
until 5 months of age. At this
age, heifers are put on kikuyu pasture.
The pasture is supplemented
with a growth meal containing
15 % CP starting from 1 kg per calf
per day to a maximum of 3 kg per
calf per day until 15 months of
age. Heifers are inseminated from
13 months of age provided they
are heavier than 200 kg. Bull and
heifer calves are dehorned at two
months of age. Ease of calving resulting
from Fleckvieh and Jersey
sires is noted for all cows. After
calving, first lactation Jersey and
Fleckvieh x Jersey cows will be
put in zero-grazing open camps.
They will receive a total mixed ration
formulated according to the
NRC (2001) feeding requirements
for Jersey cows. The TMR’s will be
provided to the cows in feed
troughs on a daily basis to ensure
an ad libitum feed intake. Jersey
and crossbred cows will be kept in
separate open camps for daily
feed intake estimation once a
week. The milk yield and milk
composition of all pure- and
crossbred cows will be recorded
according to standard milk recording
procedures. Cows will be
weighed before and after calving
and thereafter every month until
the end of the lactation period. Body
condition score of each cow
will also be recorded at each weighing.
Cows will be inseminated
from 60 days of age and the reproductive
performance of each cow
recorded. Hormonal treatment to
get cows pregnant will be applied
when cows that are 150 days in
milk are not confirmed pregnant.
The total milk income for both
pure- and crossbred cows will be
determined using current milk prices.
Results and discussion
This project is still at a very early
stage. The insemination of Jersey
cows and heifers at Elsenburg
started in October 2005 and the
first calves were born in July 2006.
Although it would normally be
considered a risk to inseminate
FLECKVIEHWorld 2008