Estimation of Genetic and Phenotypic Parameters for Production Traits and Somatic Cell Count for Jersey Dairy Cattle in Zimbabwe

Genetic and phenotypic parameters for production traits and somatic cell count (SCC) for Jersey dairy cattle in Zimbabwe were estimated. A total of 10986 lactation records were obtained from Zimbabwe Livestock Identification Trust, with cows calving in the period from 1996 to 2008. An ASReml program fitting an animal model was used for the analyses. Heritability estimates for milk yield, fat yield, protein yield, fat percentage, protein percentage, and Log(10)SCC were 0.30, 0.32, 0.33, 0.42, 0.44, and 0.08, respectively. The corresponding repeatability estimates were 0.39, 0.38, 0.39, 0.49, 0.51, and 0.16, respectively. The genetic and phenotypic correlations between different production traits ranged from −0.86 to 0.95 and from −0.88 to 0.98, respectively. The genetic and phenotypic correlations between production traits and Log(10)SCC were weak almost nonsignificantly differentl from zero. The results imply that milk traits for Jersey dairy cattle in Zimbabwe are more heritable. Therefore, these traits may be preferred by breeders as selection criteria for development of effective genetic improvement programme.