The relationships among sire's predicted transmitting ability for daughter pregnancy rate and cow conception rate and daughter's reproductive performance in Canadian Holstein cows

Abstract The objectives of this study were to (1) characterize the variability for sire's predicted transmitting ability (PTA) for daughter's pregnancy rate (DPR) and cow conception rate (CCR), (2) determine the relationships among sire's PTA for DPR, sire's PTA for CCR, daughter's parity, and daughter's 305-d mature-equivalent (ME) milk production, and (3) evaluate the associations among sire's PTA for DPR and CCR and daughter's reproductive performance [pregnancy to first artificial insemination (P/AI), pregnancy by 150 d in milk (PR150) and pregnancy loss (PL) after first AI] in Canadian Holstein cows. The data were obtained from 822 lactating Holstein cows from 10 commercial dairy herds located in Alberta. Overall mean (range) for sire's PTA for DPR and CCR was −0.09 (−9.6 to 8.2) and −0.05 (−9.9 to 7.4), respectively. Sire's PTA for DPR was strongly and positively associated with sire's PTA for CCR (r = 0.89; P