Original scientific paper
Performance of Charolais calves compared to Charolais×Simmental cross breeds in the cow-calf system
Krešimir Bošnjak
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Marina Vranić
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Mislav Brkić
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Miljenko Konjačić
; Agronomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Tomislav Mašek
; Veterinarski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
The application of technological solutions in beef production that improve economically important traits at farm level, such as calf birth weight and ease of calving, as well as body weight and daily gain, has a direct impact on competitiveness. Crossbreeding offers the possibility to combine the desired traits of different breeds to improve performance on specific traits. The aim of this work is to compare the performance of purebred Charolais (CH) calves with Charolais×Simmental (CH×SIM) crossbreds in the cow-calf system. The data was collected over two years (2017 and 2018). CH×SIM crosses had an 18% lower (p<0.0001) birth weight than purebred CH calves. Despite similar average calving score values, a higher incidence of difficult calvings was observed in purebred CH calves. Calf daily gains up to 72 days of age were similar in both calf groups, but daily gains to 198 days of age were 0.16 kg/day (19%) higher in CH×SIM crosses than in purebred CH calves (p<0.001). These results suggest that crossbreeding Charolais and Simmental breeds in the production of calves for fattening in a cow-calf system leads to improved economic traits in beef production that increase competitiveness at the farm level.
Keywords
crossbreeding; breeds; calving score; daily gain
Hrčak ID:
347594
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2026.
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