A single-step genomic evaluation of claw health traits in French Holstein, Montbéliarde and Normande breeds

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Abstract

Claw lesions are the 3rd most important health issue in dairy cattle, after mastitis and fertility issues. 21 lesions defined according to ICAR standards are recorded by trimmers on touch pad since the early 2010s. 7 of these lesions (Digital Dermatitis (DD), Heel Horn Erosion (HHE), Interdigital Hyperplasia (IH), Sole Hemorrhage Circumscribed (SHC), Sole Hemorrhage Diffused (SHD), Sole Ulcer (SU) and White Line Fissure (WLF)), which have a prevalence of more than 10% and/or may be responsible for lameness, were studied in the Holstein, Normande and Montbéliarde breeds. Breed specificities have also led to study Toe Necrosis (TN) and CorkScrew Claw (CSC).

            In summer 2022 dataset, more than 440,000 Holstein trimmings (respectively 80 000 Montbeliarde and 62 000 Normande) from 250,000 cows (respectively 44 000 Montbeliarde and 35 000 Normande), including 35,000 genotyped cows (respectively 15 000 Montbeliarde and 10 000 Normande) were available for the development of the genetic evaluation model. 40% of the cows were trimmed more than once, but only 20% were trimmed in different lactations. Estimated heritabilities ranged from 0.01 and 0.22 depending on the trait. Genetic correlations showed 2 groups of traits that were highly correlated: 1/ within the infectious traits (DD, HHE and IH), in particular with high correlations between DD and IH (between 0.65 and 0.80 according to the breed); 2/ within the non-infectious traits (SHC, SHD, WLF and SU) with genetic correlations between 0.40 and 0.89 in Holstein; TN and CSC being relatively independent from the other traits.

            Multiple trait single-step evaluations have been developed for each group of traits to limit computational times, with a negligible effect on estimated genetic values compared to a 9 traits genetic evaluation. Implementation of routine evaluation is planned for April 2024.

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Author Biographies

Helene Leclerc

 

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Armance Lepers

 

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Aurélia Baur

 

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Anne Barbat

 

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Thierry Tribout

 

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Sébastien Fritz

 

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Published

2023-12-13

Issue

No. 59 (2023): Proceedings of the 2023 Interbull Meeting

Section

Articles

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