Comparison of equations to fit growth curves of Holstein, Jersey and Jersey x Holstein cows in a grazing system

The objective of the study was to compare the goodness of fit of four nonlinear equations to describe the growth curves of Jersey, Holstein, and Jersey x Holstein cows in grazing. The Brody, Gompertz, von Bertalanffy, and Logistic equations were fitted to the data (n = 2,315) on weight and age of Jersey (n= 54), Holstein (n= 6) and Jersey x Holstein (n= 30) cows. For each animal, genotype and equation, the parameters A, b and k that generated the best-fit growth curves were estimated. In each of the four equations compared, parameter A corresponds to the upper asymptote of the curve and estimates the mature weight of the animal, parameters b and k represent the integration constant and the maturation rate. For the growth curves of Jersey cows and Jersey x Holstein crosses, the Gompertz and von Bertalanffy equations produced the best fit. In contrast, the Logistic equation had the best fit for the growth curves of Holstein, followed closely by the Gompertz and von Bertalanffy equations. Under the management and feeding conditions of the animals in this study, the growth curves of the females of the three genotypes studied can be fitted with the von Bertalanffy equation.