LONGEVIDADE EM BOVINOS LEITEIROS

Abstract

The objective of this work was to carry out a literature review on longevity in dairy cattle in taurine and zebu breeds. Longevity is the result of the animal during its life in the herd, this characteristic is measured through parameters, which mainly use the date of birth and the date of disposal of the animal. In dairy production, the main feature that keeps the animal in the herd for longer is its milk production analyzed in terms of quality and quantity. The ability of an animal to stay in the herd is called “Stayability” this characteristic in genetic improvement is responsible for indicating longevity in the herd. When comparing the taurine and zebu breeds, the breeds that present greater and better adaptability are the zebu breeds, but the taurine breeds have better milk production, that is, the ideal for longevity is the genetic crosses between zebu and taurine. Thus, we can say that longevity is a characteristic of immense importance in the dairy producer's herd, because for the producer, the disposal of animals in the herd generates losses in addition to the costs with calves until they reach the milk production stage are high, the more the longer the animal remains in the herd with good production, the better the profits for the producer. When compared to zebu and taurine breeds, the longevity of zebu is superior to taurine due to its greater rusticity, adaptability and resistance to parasites and diseases in tropical environments. Keywords: discard, stayability, taurus, zebu.