In this thesis, we presented changes in cattle herd size, the milk production of cows including in milk recording, calving intervals, insemination of cows and the advantages of the brown cattle breed. The breeding programs for the brown cattle breed in Slovenia have been compared to those in other countries in which the breeding of the brown cattle is more widespread, i. e. Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the USA. The breeding programs for the brown breed in all these countries aim at achieving high milk yield as well as high quality and quantity of proteins in milk. In addition, these breeding goals focus on improving longevity, fertility and animal health in general. For the purpose of this thesis a survey was carried out among Slovenian breeders with bull dams of Brown breed. The survey questionnaires have been used to find out what breeders plans for the future are. On the basis of 26 correctly completed questionnaires it has been established that the breeders of brown cows want to improve the milk yield of brown cows, their longevity, fertility, udder characteristics and its health status, feet and leg conditions and persistence. The breeders want the following characteristics to be included in the selection index: heat intensity, hoof health, better feed efficiency, lower frequency of digestive and metabolic disorders and less postpartum problems. The results of the survey will help to create a new breeding program and breeding goals in Slovenia. It will include also genomic selection for predicting genomic breeding values and the knowledge of important monogenic properties such as kappa and beta-caseins in order to achieve the highest possible quality in progeny which will consequently also lead to the best possible economic results in the herds of brown cows.
|
