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Reproductive Behavior of Bos Indicus Females in a Subtropical Environment. II. Gestation Length in Brahman Cattle¹

Florida Agirculture Experiment Station, Gainesville^,4

Abstract

Dates of breeding and birth dates of Brahman calves were obtained from two ranches in south Florida. The length of 1323 gestation periods was calculated. Errors due to the nature of this field study are discussed. The mean gestation length of 1048 gestation periods which were between 271 and 310 days was 292.8 days.

The frequency distribution for the length of gestation periods is reported as well as the results of a variance analysis for location, sire and sex effects. While there was no difference between locations, sex and sire differences contributed significantly to the total variance, showing that the genotype of the calf affects the length of time it is carried in utero. The results are discussed in relation to the literature for Bos indicus and Bos taurus cattle.

¹ Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations Journal Series No. 2476.

² Present address: Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Maracay, Venezuela.

³ The authors express their appreciation to the owners and staff of the W. H. Stuart Ranch, Norris Cattle Company and the United States Supar Corporation for their cooperation in supplying records for the study.

⁴ Department of Animal Science.