Comparison of recording results of purebred and crossbred Hereford cattle in Poland

Comparison of recording results of purebred and crossbred Hereford cattle in Poland. The aim of the study was to compare purebred and crossbred Hereford cattle in respect to their compliance with the breeding goals and standards adopted by the Polish Association of Breeders and Producers of Beef Cattle. The study was based on data for the years 2002–2015 from the PABPBC and for the years 1996–2001 from the National Center of Animal Breeding (NCAB). The properties that were evaluated were the average body weight of calves after birth (kg), average daily weight gain of calves from birth to 210 days (g), average body weight of calves at 210 days (kg) and average milk yield of cows (kg). One can observe a gradual decline in the share of the national Hereford beef cattle population, it also shows a significant decrease in the number of crossbreds with Hereford breed. Purebred Hereford cows delivered calves about 2–3 kg heavier than calves from crossbreds ones. Higher birth weights, both within the purebred and hybrid population, had bulls. The difference between bulls and heifers was usually 2–3 kg depending on the assessment year. For both populations growing trend of bull calves body weight at birth could be observed. In case of heifers calves the growing trend was observed in purebred population only. the average daily weight gain of calves increased considerably in the last years of analysis. The presented data show that both pure-bred calves and hybrids were characterized by relatively high body weight gain in the rearing period. The average daily gain was 812–1002 g for pure-bred heifers and 852– –1045 g for pure-bred bulls and for crossbred heifers 876–1039 g and 889–1081 g for bulls.