COMPARISON OF THE BRAHMAN AND FRIESIAN BREEDS AS SIRES FOR BEEF-PRODUCTION IN NEW-ZEALAND

A comparison of Brahmans and Friesians as sire breeds was carried out with crossbred cows over three calf crops (birth years 1985-87) to investigate differences in growth, internal parasite burdens, carcass weight and composition, and early female reproduction under temperate pastoral conditions in New Zealand. All six Brahman bulls available in New Zealand by artificial insemination were used, alongside eight Friesian bulls, generating 229 calves. Steers were slaughtered at 18 months of age, whereas heifers were slaughtered at 2.5 and 3.5 years (I 985 animals), 2.5 years (1986 animals), and 1.5 years (1987 animals). Gestation lengths, dates of birth, and birth weights of Brahman-sired calves were respectively 8.9 +/- 1.0 days longer, 12.3 +/- 2.1 days later, and 5.5 +/- 0.9 kg heavier than those of the Friesian-sired calves. Liveweights from weaning to slaughter, however, were not significantly different. Faecal egg counts (FEC) during a challenge period from weaning (4 months) to 9 months of age showed that the Brahman-sired cattle generally had lower values. Repeatabilities of FEC and log(e) (FEC) were 0.33 +/-0.08 and 0.21 +/- 0.08, respectively. Carcass weight was 4.2% greater for Brahman-sired than Friesian-sired animals (P < 0.01). For carcass composition at fixed age, Brahman-sired animals had significantly heavier hind-quarters and lighter bones (both traits as a percentage of side weight) than Ffiesian-sired animals. At fixed carcass weight, the two breeds were similar in fat depth and in the weight of trimmed fat in the carcass; eye muscle area, and the weights of hind-quarter and of saleable meat were significantly greater whereas the weight of bone was significantly less in Brahman-sired than Friesian-sired cattle. For pregnancy rate subsequent to a 2-month mating per-iod, Ffiesian-sired heifers had a higher value (P < 0.01) as yearlings than Brahman-sired heifers (91 versus 27% in calf), but there was no significant difference in pregnancy rate in 2-year-olds as a result of breed of sire.