Relationships among bovine male and female reproductive traits

Abstract

No significant relationship (p greater than 0.05) was found between age at puberty in heifers and the age and scrotal circumference at puberty in related bulls. There was a significant effect (p less than 0.01) of genotype and sire on age at puberty of heifers and a significant effect (p less than 0.05) of genotype on weight at puberty in heifers. There was a significant effect of genotype on age (p less than 0.01) and weight (p less than 0.05) at puberty of bulls. A significant difference (p less than 0.05) in age at puberty of bulls was found between the 2 methods of assessing puberty. It is possible that the assessment of puberty of heifers at 2-month intervals may not have been precise enough to detect such a relationship and/or that the variation in genotypes and ages in this study were too great to establish such a relationship.