British Cattle Veterinary Association

Genetic selection for female fertility is difficult because current records based on AI information are biased from farmer's decisions and have low heritability (h2 = 0.03). Automated on-farm progesterone based heat detection methods are becoming commercially available, as has equipment based on behaviour monitoring using activity meters already been for some time. Data from a research herd show that the heritability of days to first oestrus is between 0.21 and 0.27 using these types of equipments. Collection of data from both types of automated equipment would offer unbiased information on days to first oestrus and would enable improved genetic selection for fertility traits.