Relationship between Somatic Cell Score and Fat Plus Protein Yield in the First Three Lactations in Spanish Florida Goats

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate genetic parameters of somatic cell score (SCS) and fat plus protein yield (FPY) using repeatability (RM) and random regression (RRM) models in Florida goats. The data consisted of 340,654 test-day controls of the first three lactations, and the pedigree contained 36,144 animals. Covariance components were estimated with a bivariate RM and RRM using the REML approach. Both models included as fixed effects the combination of herd and control date, litter size, kidding number and lactation length, and as random effects, the additive genetic and permanent environmental effects. A variation in the shape of the genetic parameters along the lactation curve was observed for both traits, and h2 oscillated between 0.272 and 0.279 for SCS and 0.099 and 0.138 for FPY. The genetic correlation between SCS and FPY was negative and medium (−0.304 to −0.477), indicating that a low-SCS EBV is associated with a genetic predisposition to high FPY production. Our results showed that given the magnitude of h2 for SCS and its rg with FPY, the SCS could be used as a selection criterion to increase resistance to mastitis, thus obtaining an improved dairy and cheese aptitude in this breed.