caa a22 4500 386320497 CHVBK 20180307111624.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161130e198812 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1017/S0003356100003482 doi S0003356100003482 pii (NATIONALLICENCE)cambridge-10.1017/S0003356100003482 Evaluation of beef breeds for rangeland weaner production in Zimbabwe 1. Productivity of purebred cows [Elektronische Daten] Purebred cows were evaluated for reproductive performance and live weight, and for pre-weaning growth and viability of crossbred progeny sired by unrelated breeds. The cows comprised three indigenous breeds, Mashona, Nkone and Tuli and four exotic breeds Africander, Brahman, Sussex and Charolais. Over 3 years, the mean calving rates % (s.e.) were 55·5 (3·0), 76·0 (3·8), 63·1 (4·5), 69·6 (3·5), 70·0 (3·8), 60·0 (4·3) and 67·0 (5·0) for Africander, Mashona, Nkone, Tuli, Brahman, Sussex and Charolais cows, respectively. Bos taurus and Brahman cows were heavier at parturition and at calf weaning than indigenous cows. Mashona cows were lightest at both stages. Calves of Bos taurus cows were heaviest at birth and those of Mashona lightest. Calves of Brahman cows had the most rapid growth rate and at weaning (240 days) weighed in kg (s.e.) 207 (3·1), compared with 184 (2·1), 172 (2·2), 187 (2·6), 184 (2·1), 178 (2·7) and 186 (2·9) for progeny of Africander, Mashona, Nkone, Tuli, Sussex and Charolais, respectively. Pre-weaning survival rates of the breeds were not significantly different but viability was higher in progeny of indigenous than exotic breeds. The productivity estimates combining calving rate, cow weight, calf weaning weight and pre-weaning viability demonstrated the superiority of indigenous breeds and the Brahman over Africander and Bos taurus breeds. Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1988 Tawonezvi H. P. R. Matopos Research Station, Private Bag K 5137, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Ward H. K. Matopos Research Station, Private Bag K 5137, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe Trail J. C. M. International Livestock Centre for Africa, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Light D. International Livestock Centre for Africa, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Animal Production Cambridge University Press 47/3(1988-12), 351-359 0003-3561 47:3<351 1988 47 ASC https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003356100003482 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003356100003482 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Tawonezvi H. P. R. Matopos Research Station, Private Bag K 5137, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ward H. K. Matopos Research Station, Private Bag K 5137, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Trail J. C. M. International Livestock Centre for Africa, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Light D. International Livestock Centre for Africa, PO Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Animal Production Cambridge University Press 47/3(1988-12), 351-359 0003-3561 47:3<351 1988 47 ASC CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence SWISSBIB 386320497 BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-cambridge