This study aimed to evaluate the effects of hair coat traits (thickness (T), reflectance (R), length (L), diameter (D) and number of hairs per unit area (N)) and sweating rate (SR) on calving interval (CI, n = 423) and days to calving (DC, n = 1202) of Braford cows raised in Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Data were analyzed by least squares and the model for CI included the effects of age class of cow, genetic group, sire and regression on R, T, L, N, D and SR. For days to calving the following effects were considered: R, T, L, N, D, TS divided in classes; regressions on genetic group, age at the beginning of breeding season and sire. Variance and covariance components were estimated by REML. Hair coat traits and SR traits were not statistically significant for CI, but the SR effect was statistically significant on DC. The heritability estimates were practically null for CI and DC and ranged from 0.08 to 0.30 for adaptive characteristics (T = 0.16 ± 0.09; L = 0.18 ± 0.09; N = 0.08 ± 0.06; D = 0.12 ± 0.07; R = 0.30 ± 0.12; SR = 0.10 ± 0.06). Overall, estimates of genetic correlations between pair of traits (hair coat, sweating rate, CI and DC) were characterized by high standard errors. Additional data is required to obtain accurate estimates of genetic correlations among hair coat traits, sweating rate and reproductive performance of Braford cows in Brazil.
beef cattle; Braford; hair coat; heritability; reproduction; sweating rate
