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  • The effect of foreign stallions on the Hungarian Furioso-North Star breed
    67-70
    Views:
    216

    The most common aim of animal conservation programs is to maintain genetic diversity. Furioso-North Star is an indigenous Hungarian horse breed originated from Mezőhegyes Stud. The breed is based on two founder stallions, Furioso Senior and North Star Senior. The aim of this research study was to analyze the effect of the foreign breeding stallions to the genetic structure of Hungarian Furioso-North Star breed. The genetic structure of the breed was studied from pedigree data what was received from the Furioso-North Star Horse Breeding Association. Foals born between 2015–2018 were chosen as reference population. Every breeding stallion was marked by nationality (Austrian, Czech, German, Hungarian, Romanian or Slovak) according to their birth place. The population was described with genetic variability, what was calculated using Endog software. The Furioso-North Star breed is popular in Central Europe and nearby countries. The stallion imports and the stallion transfers were necessary and useful as they made changes in the composition of the genetic variability. The new genes and the new lines have refreshed the genetic structure. There were several breeds, like the Nonius, Shagya Arabian and English Thoroughbred, whose had an impact on the genetic structure of the Furioso-North Star breed.

  • Phenotypic characterization of Satu Mare Tumbler pigeon breed
    31-34
    Views:
    26

    The aim of this study was to determine morphological characteristics of the tumbler pigeon breed of Satu Mare. This pigeon breed was first described in 1932 and was very close to extinction at the end of the 20th century. Data collection was carried out in two stocks having birds from three breeders (Bertalan Juhos, Cosmin Lupu and Werner Hartmann) in Satu Mare. In addition to the breeder, sex and color variety were also evaluated. The performed conformation measurements were statistically compared using multifactor analysis of variance. Lupu’s birds were longer compared to other breeder’s stock, while beak and wing was longer in Juhos’s stock. Thoracic perimeter was smaller whereas queue length was the longer for Juhos’s birds. Cocks’ values were significantly exceeding values of hens, except beak length. Recessive red pigeons had longer body than blue birds. Beak length of recessive yellow pigeons was significantly longer that it was computed for black birds. Wingspan was longer for dun birds than it was estimated for recessive yellow pigeons. These differences show that there is reasonable genetic variability in the breed which is desired in small populations. Due to the variability within the breed, stabilising selection might be favorable, with a special account for avoiding inbreeding.

  • Genetic diversity of the Hungarian draft horse assessed by mitochondrial DNA
    29-32
    Views:
    263

    Hungarian draft is a horse breed with a recent mixed ancestry. It was developed in the 1920s by crossing local mares with draught horses imported from France and Belgium. To genetically characterize the breed and to set up the basis for a conservation programme, we have employed a molecular marker: a 256-bp D-loop mitochondrial DNA fragment. We analyzed 124 horses representing Hungarian draft horses to assess the maternal phylogeography of the breed. Sequence analysis of a 256-bp segment revealed a total of 34 haplotypes with thirty-four polymorphic sites. High haplotype and nucleotide diversity values (Hd=0.953±0.001; π=0.024±0.001) were detected. The average number of pairwise differences were k=5.998. This breed counts 800 mares today, and only survive due to breeding programmes, this way each haplotype frequency depends on the extent to which mares are involved into the breeding. The reduced number of surviving maternal lineages emphasizes the importance of establishing a conservation plan for this endangered breed. Due to the revealed 34 polymorphic sites we could presuppose twelve maternal linages, which could be a first step for making a breeding programme.

  • Comparative analysis of Carpathian Braunvieh’s morphological traits
    15-19
    Views:
    214

    The Carpathian Braunvieh cattle established by the cross-breeding of the Schweizer Braunvieh and the local breeds of the Carpathian basin approximately 150 years ago. The evolved three usage breed was durable and resistant, however in comparison with the high-productivity breeds was less competitive. The dramatic lay-off, and the endangered status of the breed requires a conservation programme. University of Debrecen took the investigation of the Hungarian population and it’s detailed genetic studies. Within this research project among others we carry out body measurements and rates of the body traits. Depending on these results, we may decide on the subsequent gene-reserving objects. Based on body measurements and live weight we established that the breed at Mikóháza favours to the one lived in Hungary in the 1960’s, and to another, named Ukrainian Carpathian Brown. Compared to the earlier data (Horváth, 1966) smaller body traits can be seen. Our livestock is proportionately smaller than the other breeds in height at withers, as well as in live weight. Based on the comparative analysis, we established, that – thanks to the aware sorting – the imported individuals represent the ancient, primitive Carpathian variant.

  • Identification of Hucul mare families by mtDNA markers
    75-79
    Views:
    237

    Hundred animal species have disappeared during the last century. By this time, approximately one-third of domestic animals have been in the endangered category. Hucul horses are also in this category; furthermore saving the genetic diversity beside the race preservation is an important challenge as well. The number of mares and stallions is only one of the expressive elements of genetic diversity; together with their quality determine the genetic variability of this breed. Beyond that, if an exact breed can originates from more founders, it can be more renewed genetically. Stud book documents these data by registering the mare families and stallions’ genealogical lineage. Molecular genetics, especially mitochondrial DNA analysis can make the precise identification of mare families possible. As a result of these molecular based methods, protection of genetic diversity, as well as breed preservation became more reliable. After the primer designing, the optimal primer pair was chosen which targets a 1092 bp length DNA sequence in the cytochrome b region. After the successful PCR optimalisation, we determined 170 Hucul mares’ sequences. According to our results, the samples compose ten haplotypes, which are much less, than the registered number of mare families in the stud book. Further investigations are needed to reach more representative results, and drawn the further consequences.

  • Examination of microsatellite markers of Dorper sheep breed
    57-61
    Views:
    239

    Number of not woolly and molty sheep exceeds 60 million throughout the world. Their numbers and their importance is growing, still they have appeared in the past two decades all over in North-America, Australia, New-Zealand and also in Europe. The South African Dorper has been a pioneer among them in Hungary. It was introduced in 2006 in the country. The Dorper sheep is the second largest breed in South Africa, which was developed from the crossing of Dorset Horn and the Blackhead Persian. The aim of the EU Member States in terms of this specific breed is increasing the small populations, improving the productive qualities, in addition to this avoiding inbreeding. However, finding appropriate breeding stock is difficult due to the small size of available populations and also to the suspected common of origin. With the help of various molecular genetic methods we could get a total view of the genetic background of these flocks. Nowadays the most commonly known and used genetic markers are microsatellites, because their applications give fast, accurate and easily reproducible results. There is no specific descriptive information on the genetic background of Dorper populations in the various EU countries , also regarding diversity between populations. Therefore in our work we want to optimize the conditions of applicability of 31 selected microsatellite reactions as a first step of mapping the entire genetic background of the different EU Dorper populations.

  • Origin, history and utilization possibilities of Carpathian Braunvieh at Hungary
    15-20
    Views:
    215

    The Carpathian Braunvieh was established by the cross-breeding of Braunvieh and the small dun mountain breeds of the Carpathian basin. It has been breeding in Hungary about 100 years before and still living in Transcarpathia and Transylvania, but only in very mixed populations. Since it was a characteristic native cattle breed of the country, it should be retain for future generations and re-establish in Hungary. Our primary aim is to preserve the breed’s genetic resources and - if appropriate - to acclaim it as an indigenous breed. If there are no longer residuals of the old type Carpathian Braunvieh, it is still worth to preserve as a local variety, because of its many favourable features. Above all, it’s our duty to maintain the breed, because neither Transcarpathia nor Transylvania has a breeding programme for it.

  • Coincidences between molecular genetic and studbook data of gidrán mare families on the basis of mtDnA
    69-73
    Views:
    262

    The traditional Hungarian horse breed, Gidran has been close to the edge of extinction several times. Despite the multiple bottleneck effect, the breed has retained a part of its genetic variability, and performed prominently in carriage driving and show-jumping competitions. Maintaining of the Gidran breed is important in the point of view of world heritage; because besides Hungary, smaller Gidran populations exist only in Bulgaria and Romania. Taking advantage of the special inheritance features of mtDNA, our study focused on two mtDNA regions of Gidran mares. Altogether, 251 hair samples from various Hungarian studs were examined. The analysis was successfully made in case of 251 samples of the cytochrome b and in case of 246 samples of D-loop regions. Because of the distinct mutation rates of the two mtDNA markers, the number of the haplotypes and the way of grouping samples into haplotypes was different. Our key finding was that most haplotypes may be compatible with mare families of the stud book; however incidental mistakes in stud book have occurred only in a few cases. Our results indicate the importance of the preservation and breeding those mare families, which are molecular genetically more diverse than the others, and are in the edge of extinction.

  • Horn colour varieties of the Hungarian Grey cattle
    83-87
    Views:
    128

    The Hungarian Grey Cattle breed is a ‘success-story’ of the national genetic conservation work. Traits of the breed have been subjects of several research projects, although many relationships remained unclear. Our present research results were meant to call attention to a less emphasized trait of the breed: the different horn colour varieties. Research work was carried out in the Hungarian Grey stock of the Hortobágy Non-profit Company for Nature Conservation and Gene Preservation. Ratio of the three main horn colour varieties (white, ‘cardy’, green) were determined in the observed female, male and steer stocks. Our results showed no significant differences (P<0,05) in the distribution of the horn colour varieties of the female and bull stocks, and of the female and steer stocks. We found that on the basis of the ratio of white colour, four sub-categories can be distinguished within the ‘cardy’ colour variety. Results of the statistical analysis (P<0,05) confirmed that the colour of the horn and the ratio of the black part on the horn tip are two different traits. 

  • Carcass and the Meat Quality of Hungarian Lambs
    65-71
    Views:
    124

    The author investigated 153 lambs of nine genotypes originating from breeding flocks, and 50 lambs originating from production flocks. The investigations were performed between 1995 and 1998. The authors discuss the evaluation of comformation and fat cover according to EUROP standards. The authors also investigate the proportion of valuable meat by genotype, and – out of the internal value indicators – the dry-matter, protein, fat, connective-tissue and hemin contents comparing the flavour, aroma, tenderness, and oven loss of the different genotypes.

    The following findings should be highlighted:
    ♦ The Hungarian Merino breed should be improved, as – according to EUROP standards, more than 70% of these animals were rated as quality „R”.
    ♦ Hungarian fattening technology has to be preserved, as the lambs reach the desired slaughter weight within a short period of time, and without over-fattening.
    ♦ Readiness for slaughter, typical of each genotype, has to be defined, and slaughter at proper weight be achieved.
    ♦ It has to be re-evaluated whether the Hungarian Merino is the only breed which can be used in Hungary, as none of the investigations really proved the special characteristics and significance of this breed.
    The author summarizes the findings of the investigation in five tables.

  • Comparing skull formation of the Hungarian (Hortobágy) Zackel sheep breed by geometrics morphometrics
    29-33
    Views:
    166

    This work seeks to explore the morphological changes of the Hungarian (Hortobágy) Zackel sheep's skull, which occurred in the past 50–70 years. In this study, we compared individuals skull forms by geometric morphometric methods. The origin of the breed is not known, we do not know when entering the Carpathian Basin. Therefore, the comparison involved the only known early archaeological findings. We have shown that there is no difference between each period colour variations, but over time change has occurred in the skull formation of the breed.

  • Investigation of the β-casein (CSN2) gene polymorphism in goat breed – Review
    69-73
    Views:
    331

    Milk plays an important role in the human nutrition as an important protein and energy source. Β-casein is the most abundant casein fraction in the goat milk. The β-casein gene has at least 9 polymorphism in goat breed (A, A1, B, C, C1, D, E, 0 and 0’). The most important alleles are the zero (0) and zero’ (0’) alleles, because they decrease the quantity of β-casein protein in milk. The lower quantity of the β-casein changes the properties of the coagulation and the allergenin milk. This review is about the β-casein gene polymorphism in goat breed.

  • Application of laparoscopic artificial insemination in conventional Lacaune sheep farm using frozen-thawed semen
    133-138
    Views:
    327

    The complex anatomical structure of the ewe reproductive tract accompanied with low quality of frozen ram semen for artificial insemination, resulted in a challenge with regard to using superior genotypes for reproductive ovine performance. Hence, improved genetics in ovine management has not been efficiently and widely used especially in undeveloped countries. Therefore, intrauterine semen deposition by laparoscopic insemination should be adopted in the current sheep production systems. Thus, this study aimed to assess the pregnancy rate and lambing rate of ewe inseminated by laparoscopic insemination techniques using frozen-thawed semen. The research used imported frozen semen from two rams of the Lacaune breed. Ewes were grouped according to age in years (1, 2 and 4). Before insemination, the semen was examined microscopically for its motility and viability and thereafter the laparoscopic artificial insemination technique was performed to 19 Lacaune breed ewes using frozen-thawed semen. The overall pregnancy and prolificacy rates were 31.57% and 42.10% respectively. Out of 2 ewes in the 1-year age group that were inseminated, only 1 ewe lambed representing 50%. However, from 16 ewes inseminated of four-year age group, 5 ewes lambed representing 31.25%. Significant difference based on age group was not evaluated due disproportionate of the data, (such that the data included 2 ewes in one-year-old age, 1 ewe in 2-year-old age and 16 ewes in 4-year-old age). Based on the ram semen, 33.33% and 30% of the inseminated ewes were pregnant from ram A and ram B semen respectively. However, in the case of prolificacy rate, 44.44% and 40 % of the ewes lambed from using semen of ram A and B, respectively. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in pregnancy and prolificacy rates based on semen from the two rams. In conclusion, in this research study, ram semen had no significant effect on pregnancy and prolificacy rates using laparoscopic AI on Lacaune sheep. This could be due to the fact that the rams had very good quality semen. Evaluation of ram semen, accompanied with appropriate ewe selection based on age and rightful deposition of semen could lead to better and more consistent results. Overall this could contribute to the successful application of laparoscopic artificial insemination in Lacaune sheep production systems for enhanced productivity.

  • The effect of genotype and the location of sampling on the mineral content of wool
    157-160
    Views:
    268

    Mineral supplementation is very important in high producing farm animals. The estimation of exact mineral intake is very difficult in forage eating animals, like sheep. Accessing of long term mineral status seems to be possible using wool mineral analysis. However several factors can affect the results. Therefore, the aim of this study was to test the effect of breed and sampling location on the mineral content of sheep wool. 20 Dorper and 20 Tsigai sheep were chosen from the same farm. Samples were obtained from 3 locations (withers, side and quarter) and tested for 8 elements: Ca, Mg, Na, Co, Cu, P, S, Se , Zn. The samples were cleaned with ethyl alcohol from organic contamination, then after adding nitric acid were mineral analized using ultrasonic cleaning unit. The samples were analysed with ICP-OES (Perkin-Elmer, Optima 3300 DV). Statistical analyses were carried out by GLM procedure of SAS statistical analyses software. Differences between means were checked with Tukey-test. Significant breed differences were detected in the case of Mg, Na, S, Se in spite of the same feeding regime. The wool mineral content were within the reference range. The sampling location had no effect on the mineral content of wool.

  • Inner pelvic measurements in dairy breeds
    51-56
    Views:
    137

    Dystocia causes great financial losses: due to dystocia milk production is decreased and the probability of calf loss is increased. There are many factors that may cause dystocia. One of the factors –often investigated in beef cattle- is pelvic measurements. There have not been inner pelvic measurement comparisons in dairy breeds in Hungary. 
    After comparing the imported, primiparous cows, Jersey turned out to have the smallest absolute inner pelvic measures. According to their age and weight, Brown Swiss cows had the largest pelvic dimensions. Ayrshires, Norwegian and Swedish Red, the three dairy breeds which share similar genetic background did not differ in most measures. Holsteins were closest to the seemingly ideal 1:1 horizontal and vertical diameter ratio; however this breed suffers the most from dystocia. Jerseys, despite having the smallest pelvic area are famous of their calving ease, perhaps not by coincidence. Though this dairy breed is the lightest, when pelvic area was compared in ratio of body weight Jerseys were not smaller than the 130 and 114 kg heavier Norwegian and Swedish Red cows.

  • The status of the Hungarian Merino sheep breed compared to the other merino breeds
    151-156
    Views:
    290

    Merino and Merino-derived sheep breeds have been widely known and distributed across the world, both as purebred and admixed populations. They represent a diverse genetic resource which over time has been used as the basis for the development of new breeds. In spite of this, their gene-pool potential is still unexplored. The Merino sheep represent the most important sheep resource of the Hungarian husbandry. It has the largest amount of individuals between both of the stock and commercial flocks. But in Europe the Merino stocks went through a drastic reduction in number. Thus these breeds became endangered in several countries as well as in Hungary. In this study we would like to present the recent status of different Merino breeds of the world to ground our further phylogenetic research with the Hungarian Merino breed.

  • The initial steps of the black grouse repatriation
    63-68
    Views:
    135

    The black grouse in Hungary is an extinct but a native and protected species now. In the 19th century, they used to be common in the so called Nyírség, the North-Eastern part of the Hungarian Great Plains.
    The project to re-patriate black grouse was started in 2005 by the Nyírség Company of Forestry. We studied the conditions of keeping and breeding black grouse from German and English specialists and we endeavoured to expand our breeding population in 2007.
    We also started to make a database of the whole bird stock, containing biometrical data from every individual specimen and data about the eggs (weight, length, width) and nestlings (weekly weight growth). In the future, we will continue our work to breed black grouse and re-patriate the new offspring, which will be nearby wild populations in a similar bio-geographic environment. In a few years it is hoped we will be able to accomplish a wild population in a natural habitat. Our work is now to breed these birds in captivity – similar to their natural habitat – prior to their release into the wild, in order to preserve biodiversity for our descendants through re-patriating black grouse here in Hungary as well.

  • Changes in the genetic variability of the Furioso-North Star population between 1989 and 2019
    61-65
    Views:
    143

    The Furioso-North Star (FNS) is one of the indigenous Hungarian horse breeds, originated from Mezőhegyes Stud. The aim of this work was to analyze the pedigree diversity and inbreeding of the registered Hungarian Furioso-North Star population in two different time points: the first was the active population in 1989, the second was the active population in 2019. Pedigree data was analyzed using Endog 4.8 software. The pedigree completeness was calculated in three different ways. In the past 30 years the pedigrees became more complete. In the population 2019 were 5 horses with ancestor in the 40th generation. Only 17–17 animals covered the 50% of the genetic variability for the two population. The most important ancestor was Herod xx in both reference populations. The FNS breed has English Thoroughbred background, that might be the reason of having several horses form this breed in the database. There were six animals among the ten most important ancestors in both reference populations. The average inbreeding coefficient was 3.31 in 1989 and 4.22 in 2019. Animals with highest inbreeding coefficient were born from the mating of close relatives (typically father-daughter). The Bart Furioso III-84 Boglár had the highest inbreeding coefficient (0.299) in the population 2019.

  • Study of the rams’ jumping order
    59-62
    Views:
    150

    The bevahiour of Babolna Tetra, Ile de France and Suffolk rams was studied at semen collection by artificial vagina. The sequence of rams coming out of the group to the place of semen collection and the number of jumpings needed to ejaculation were observed. It was investigated if there were changes in these characters at different occasions, and did they show connection to the body condition. The number of jumpings before ejaculation was different in the different breeds. Semen was taken at the first jump from 63% of the Suffolk, 56% of the Babolna Tetra and 55% of the Ile de France rams. There was no early ejaculation at the Ile de France, but it was common among the Suffolk rams. The greatest changes in the jumping order between different semen collections were observed in the Babolna Tetra breed. There was a medium correlation in the Suffolk breed between the jumping order and body condition in the autumn and spring, which was tight and significant in winter.

  • Genetic structure of the Lipizzan horse breed in Hungary through the mare families
    71-78
    Views:
    146

    Modern animal husbandry has drastically changed the genetic structure of some domestic species. The varieties, genotypes that we think we do not need at the moment can only be saved from extinction with the help of gene conservation. Traditional Hungarian horse breeds have a long history (more than 200 years) and a demonstrably different genetic structure from other horse breeds in Europe and the rest of the world. Consequently, their enormous genetic value is undoubted. The subject of our research was to study the structure of the mare families found in the population of the Lipizzan horse breed and the genetic structure of the Hungarian population. Out of the total 61 mare families in the world, 35 are present in Hungary. There are 11 Hungarian, 12 families of Fogaras, 7 original, 4 Croatian and 1 Slovenian mare families in the Hungarian population. The proportion of mare families in Hungary and Fogaras is almost the same. The proportion of Croatian and Slovenian families is negligible. In terms of their number, they are not significant in Hungary. For this reason they have little effect on the Hungarian Lipizzan population. Except one of the original mare families are in the same situation as the Croatian and Slovenian families. The Presciana / Bradamanta mare family is the most populous of all families due to their long stay in Hungary. The proportion of families is unbalanced. Seven mare families accounting for 56.36% of the total population. Given the basic requirements of gene conservation work, this condition is far from optimal.

  • Production and disposition of purebred Jersey populations
    89-96
    Views:
    144

    In Hungary crossbreeding wit Jersey has been in practice since 2004. Uniquely in the Hungarian history of the Jersey breed two times fifty head pregnant heifers were imported in 2006. The aim of our study is to present through the description of the production and the type traits of the population the inherent possibilities of Jersey. The breed is presented by the figures of the rolling lactations, 305 day milk production, correlations between the traits and by the results of the evaluation of type traits. Analyses of the data were done by using independent samples t-test.
    Based on data of 87 cows the average number of days in milk  is 308 and 48 cows has finished lactation. During the rolling lactation they produced 5050 kg milk with 5.34% fat and 3.8% protein content.
    The first lactation Jersey cows’ production when corrected to 305 days was 5089 kg milk with 5.35% fat and 3.81% protein. Between the herds there was significant difference in milk kg, amount of fat produced, protein content and amount of protein produced. On the two farms distribution of cows belonging to different production levels is very different. The biggest difference is when categorized by the amount of milk produced.
    Correlation between the milk kg and fat kg is the greatest (r=0.950). Similar values were obtained for the correlation between fat and protein kg (r=0.919) and for the milk kg and fat kg (r=0,898). 
    Disposition of the Jersey cows is very well balanced. Their stature, strength, body depth, dairy form, rump angle and pin width is favorable, the average scores are between 4.5 and 6.5. The leg of the cows is a bit sickly, and is hocking in a little with medium-low angled hoof. Average values of all traits describing the udder are between 4 and 5. Cows belonging to the two herds differ by disposition. Significant difference exists in the following traits: body depth, dairy form, pin width, rear leg - side view, rear leg, rear view, foot angle, fore udder attachment, teat length. The
    Jersey population imported to Hungary has a final score of 78 points which equals with the “good” qualification. 

  • Development of the reproductive tract of immature gilts
    165-166
    Views:
    74

    Mechanisms of regulation of litter size in pigs are complex and depend on many factors, including genetic regulation and also physiological and anatomical development of the reproductive tract in gilts. Improvement of growth rate in present breed pigs raises the question as to whether, with the development of the reproductive tract, sexual maturity would also be attained.
    The aim of the study was to assess the morphometric traits of reproductive tracts taken from gilts slaughtered at 100 kg body weight, i. e., just when they may become actively sexual mature.
    This study was concluded on 80 prepubertal gilts of the Polish Landrace (PL) breed tested at the Pig Program Testing Station. The animals were kept in individual pens with control feeding and standard management. They were slaughtered after attaining 100 kg body weight. Immediately after slaughter, the reproductive tract was removed and carefully assessed. The morphometric estimation of the reproductive tract involved the
    measurement of uterus weight with ligament, vagina-cervix length, uterine horns and oviducts length, ovaries weight, height and width. Uterus volume capacity was also determined, based on volumetric method of Kwaśnicki’s (1951) with own modification.
    All pigs were divided into three groups in respect to age at slaughter: A – below 160 days (n=38), B – from 160 to 180 days (n=28) and C – above 180 days of age (n=14). The results were elaborated statistically computing the arithmetic means (x) for every traits and standard deviations (s). One-way analysis of variance ANOVA was performed. The significance of differences between age groups was estimated using Duncan’s test.
    Calculations were performed with STATISTICA 8PL Software.
    Obtained results are presented in the tables below. The most pronounced differences in the development of the reproductive tract are dependent on the age of gilts concerning only the uterus weight (P≤0.01) and uterus vagina-cervix length (P≤0.05). Gilts at age 160-180 days attained the full stage of reproductive tract development. Differences between the compared age groups of gilts dealing with the other morphometric traits
    and ovary characteristics were statistically not significant.

  • Assessment of temperament and its effect on weaning performance for Aubrac and Charolais weaned calves
    161-169
    Views:
    105

    The purposes of the present study are to compare the temperament of calves of different breed and sex at weaning, to analyse the effect of temperament on weaning performance, and to
    define the correlations  between the previous traits. In the experiment carried out in Gelej in 2006 the behaviour of 61 Aubrac and 25 Charolais calves (39 heifer and 47 bull calves) was
    assessed at weaning. The weight (WW) and the age of animals were detected, in addition temperament (TEMP) of them was scored. The weaning age (AU: 190±16.96 days, CH: 176±14.94
    days; P<0.001) and the weaning weight adjusted to 205 days of age (CWW) (AU: 192.39±31.32 kg, CH: 213.80±23.99 kg; P<0.01) of the two breeds significantly differed of each other. The
    temperament of calves was evaluated by scale test on a 5-point scale during weighing. The data were processed by SPSS 14.0 program package (Mann-Whitney U test, MANOVA, Tukey test,
    Spearman rank correlation test). Significant difference was revealed between the two breeds in TEMP (AU: 2 scores and CH: 3 scores; P<0.001), furthermore also difference was proven
    between the bull calves of Aubrac and Charolais in the behaviour (AU: 2 scores and CH: 3 scores, P<0.01). Analysing the effect of sex both for 86 calves and each breed, it was showed that the TEMP of the heifer and bull calves was equalled (P>0.10). Both of the WW and CWW were influenced by the behaviour of calves (P<0.05), which meant that the more excitable calves had higher WW and CWW. Positive, weak correlation coefficients were calculated among the TEMP, the WW and the CWW (rrank=0.28 and rrank=0.31; P<0.01). By their results it was concluded that in young age not only the performance but also the behaviour of calves are determined by the calf rearing ability of suckling cow. 

  • Biotechnological methods for improving reproduction on sheep breeding program using laparoscopic artificial inseminations in Debrecen, Hungary
    193-200
    Views:
    124

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of the LAI method in different types of breeds and seasonal variations. Analysing n=536 LAI in 7 years, there were no significant differences observed in the breed in lambing rates. Although the lambing rate of Prolific Merino (F+) was better than any other breed (45.3%). We found significant differences between breeds of Tzigaia, its pregnancy rate was 19.2%. In the case of prolificacy there were significant differences between breeds: Prolific Merino’s (FF) was the highest (2.38) and, Indigenous Tzigaia’s was the lowest (1.4) from all of them. The obtained results showed that summer inseminations were the most effective in concern of pregnancy rate (49.5%). The results are based on use of the types of semen, showed that using frozen semen was most effective than fresh semen in both parameters, however there were no significant differences. Summarising all tested conditions in our study breeds, seasons and type of semen using LAI the total results of pregnancy rate was 40.3% and the prolificacy was 1.78, respectively. Follow up the out-of-season ovarian, progesterone level of n=36 Prolific Merino were examined and insulin, IGF-1, leptin, T3, and T4 hormones as well, to evaluate the energetic status of the flock. Progesterone analysis showed 43% of examined ewes had a cyclical ovarian function in April and a cyclical ones had good reaction for estrus-induction hormonal treatment. Our results showed that valuable information can be obtained about energy supply from the determination of some metabolic hormones as IGF-1, insulin, leptin.

  • Inner pelvic measurements in dairy breeds
    31-35
    Views:
    125

    Dystocia causes great financial losses: due to dystocia milk production is decreased and the probability of calf loss is increased. There are many factors that may cause dystocia. One of the factors –often investigated in beef cattle- is pelvic measurements. There have not been inner pelvic measurement comparisons done on dairy breeds in Hungary.
    After comparing the imported, primiparous cows, Jerseys turned out to have the smallest absolute inner pelvic measures. According to their age and weight, Brown Swiss cows had the largest pelvic dimensions. Ayrshire, Norwegian and Swedish Red, the three dairy breeds which share similar genetic background did not differ in most measures. Holsteins were closest to the apparent ideal 1:1 horizontal and vertical diameter ratio; however, this breed suffers the most from dystocia. Jerseys, despite having the smallest pelvic area are famous of their calving ease, perhaps not by coincidence. Although this dairy breed is the lightest, when the pelvic area was compared in ratio of body weight Jerseys were not smaller than the 130 and 114 kg heavier Norwegian and Swedish Red cows.