Analysis of Factors Influencing the Mortality Rates of Xinjiang Brown Cattle and Holstein Cattle Calves

Calves health were related to the quality of entire herd,reducing the mortality rate of calves had important significance to improve the efficiency of pasture. In order to better understand the mortality rate and influencing factors on calves death,the combined methods of field survey and data analysis were adopted to analyze the mortality rate of Xinjiang Brown calves and Holstein calves. Based on the 7 157 calves records of a cattle farm in nearly 16 years, preliminary statistical analysis were taken on these data in Excel. According to the characteristics of Xinjiang climate, the seasons was divided into four parts that from March to May was spring, June to August was summer, September to November was autumn, and December to next year February was winter. Varieties of breeds were the Xinjiang Brown calves and Holstein calves, the years of birth from 1999 to 2014 was divided into 16 levels, the sex of born calves were divided into 2 levels that males and females. The effects of different years, breeds, seasons of birth, sex of calves, and different ages on the mortality rate of Xinjiang Brown calves were analyzed using SAS 8.1 software. The results showed that different breeds, years, seasons of birth, and sex of calves affected the mortality rate of Xinjiang Brown calves with different extent,the mortality rate of Xinjiang Brown calves was higher than Holstein calves (P <0.05);At one month old, the mortality rate of Xinjiang Brown calves was higher than Holstein calves (P <0.05);The mortality rate in 2006, 2009 and 2010 were higher than other years (P <0.05), the calf mortality rate was relatively small from 2011 to 2014;The mortality rate of winter seasons was higher than summer (P <0.05). To reduce the mortality rate of calves was a problem that could not be ignored in the process of cattle breeding. The calves mortality rate was affected by genetic and environmental factors, only by controlling the various environmental factors with reasonable ways, could improve the health level of calves.