PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF CALVES FROM LOCAL COWS THROUGH CROSSBREEDING

Abstract

Data from 185 cows out of purebred Kedah-Kelantan (KK) or crossbred Charolais (CH), Simmental (Sm) and Limousin (Lm) bulls were analysed to evaluate the difierences between straight bred and crossbred cattle for productive performances. Purebred KK cows were bred naturally to KK bull and by artificial insemination with semen from Ch, Sm and Lm bulls to produce the first generation calves. The birth weights (bwt), weaning weights (wwt) and yearling weights (ywt) of purebred KK were significantly (P<0.05) lower than that from crossbred calves. The CK calves had the heaviest ADG while the KK calves had the lowest (820.0 g/d vs. 531.0 g/d). In the second generation the KK calves had the lightest bwt, wwt and final weight (18.98, 84.98 and 216.38 kg, respectively) while among the crossbreds, though they were not significantly difierent, SK calves had the heaviest bwt and wwt (23.16 and 95.41 kg, respectively), with the CK calves having the heaviest final weight (fwt) of 27 1.36 kg.