Live weight of holstein crossbreed calves

Abstract

In a herd of crossbreed Holsteins cattle, studies were being carried out in order to observe ( 1 ) the birth weight of bulls and heifers, and (2) the ponderal weight of the heifers from the 1st up to 26th week of age. From these studies it has been observed, that the weight at the birth of the investigated animals is equal to 35,53 ± 0,49 kg. for the bulls and 33,08 ± 0,41 kg. for the heifers, the differences between them being significant. Studying the differences between males and females weights in successives pregnancies, a significant difference could be verified only among animals of the 2nd calving, no difference being found in successive ones, In these studies, contrarily to the dates published by other authors, no significant difference between the birth weight of calves from the 1st calving and from successive others was found.
However, significant differences have been shown in the 26th week of age, when comparative studies among the weight of calves from the 1st calving and other ones (i.e., 2nd, 3th, 4th, 5th), were made. When these comparative studies have been made among calves from the 1st calving and others from cows with four or more calvings, significant differences in the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th and 26th weeks of age were demonstrated. A significant correlation between the birth weight and the weight of animals
at the age of six months was revealed.