Growth and Development Analysis of Kongshan Cattle

Fang HE Wei WANG Yi SHI Donghui FANG Yueda Aguo Jia GAN Xiaodong DENG Maozhong FU Jun YI

Abstract    [Objectives]  In order to better understand the performance of Kongshan cattle， their growth and development was analyzed.

[Methods] The body weights of 106 kongshan cattle at different month ages were measured， and the growth curves and body measurement indices of Kongshan cattle after one year old were analyzed by SPPS18.0.

[Results]  Kongshan cattle have good body shape. Compared with 1985， the performance of body measurements and weight was improved significantly; and the body measurements and body weight of Kongshan cattle increased significantly after 24 months old， indicating that Kongshan cattle still have good fattening performance in adulthood.

[Conclusions] This study analyzed the growth and development laws of Kongshan cattle and the status quo of the population， and will provide some help for the selection and utilization of Kongshan cattle breed more intuitively.

Key words   Kongshan cattle; Body measurement; Body weight; Body measurement index

The origin and formation of Kongshan cattle has a long history. In addition to the unique natural ecological conditions， it is also affected by factors such as the historical and cultural environment of Tongjiang County， which belonged to the ancient "Ba country". According to  Tongjiang Animal Husbandry ， Tongjiang County has a history of raising cattle for more than 2 000 years. Kongshan cattle originated in the northern alpine area of Tongjiang County， Sichuan Province， at the southern end of the Daba Mountains， and were called "Bashan cattle" in ancient times. They are a local unique breed formed by farmers’ long-term domestication of wild cattle in the Daba Mountains. Kongshan cattle have the characteristics of docile temperament， good tolerance to roughage， strong adaptability and good service performance. In 1981， the animal husbandry departments of Sichuan Province， prefectures and counties jointly investigated and identified Kongshan cattle as an excellent local draft cattle breed. After being reported to the former Ministry of Agriculture， it was named  "Tongjiang  cattle" belonging to the northern Sichuan group of "Sichuan mountain cattle"， and included in  List of World Cattle Breeds . After the National Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources Survey in 2006， it was renamed Kongshan cattle， and included in  Sichuan Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources  in 2009. Kongshan cattle are mainly produced in Kongshan Township， Tongjiang County， and distributed in the surrounding 29 townships including Kongshang， Lianghekou， Nuoshuihe， Tiexi， Tiefu and Yangbai， covering an area of about 500 square kilometers. Now， Kongshan cattle have been extended to Northeast Sichuan such as Tongjiang， Bazhong and Pingchang. The main producing area of Kongshan cattle belongs to the middle and high mountains in the north of Tongjiang County， bordering Shanxi， and the altitudes are in the range of 960-2 089 m， and average 1 100 m. It has a  subtropical  humid monsoon climate. The soil is mostly sandy loam， and there is 4 700 hm 2 of arable land in the territory， and an area of 13 000 hm 2 of grassy hills and grassy slopes， mainly mountain shrubs and grasslands. There are 384 forage species， of which 16.67% are forage plants of Gramineae  [1] .

Analyzing the growth and development of animals is conducive to breed selection and provides corresponding help for animal husbandry， especially in cattle and sheep. Researchers conducted investigations on Zhongdian yak  [2] ， Ningxia Holstein  [3] ， Xinjiang brown cattle  [4] ， Shu-xuan pied cattle  [5] ， Hainan black cattle  [6]  and other cattle species. Different breeds of cattle have their own unique body and appearance characteristics. Livestock body measurement data can directly reflect the body size， body structure and development， and are closely related to the physiological function， production performance， disease resistance and adaptability to external living conditions of livestock  [7] . This paper analyzed the growth and development law of Kongshan cattle and the status quo of the population， aiming to provide some help for the more intuitive selection and utilization of Kongshan cattle breeds.

Materials and Methods 

Experimental animals

A herd survey was conducted in the main production area of Kongshan cattle， and a total of 106 Kongshan cattle were recorded and measured for body measurement indices （including body height， diagonal length of the barrel， chest girth and shank circumference） and body weight of each month age group.

Analysis method 

Common body measurement indices

The body measurement indices calculated and analyzed mainly included index of body length， soma index， index of circumference， and index of circumference of cannon bone. Their formulas were：

Index of body length=Diagonal length of the barrel/Body height×100%;

Soma index=Chest girth/Diagonal length of the barrel×100%;

Index of circumference=Chest girth/Body height×100%;

Index of circumference of cannon bone=Shank circumference/ Body height× 100%  [8-10] .

Data analysis

The data were analyzed using SPSS18.0 and EXCLE software.

Results and Analysis 

Population changes of Huangshan cattle

According to  Tongjiang County Chronicle ， the amount of Kongshan cattle developed rapidly from 1950 to 1985 in Tongjiang County， and by the end of 1985， the number of cattle in stock was  49 000 . In the past ten years， the number of Kongshan cattle showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. In 2006， the province’s livestock and poultry resources survey found that there were 38 000 Kongshan cattle in 2005， accounting for 20% of the cattle in Tongjiang. The population structure was as follows：  3 187  bulls， accounting for 8.3% of the whole population， 35 259 cows， accounting for 91.7% of the whole group， and the male-to-female ratio of the whole population was 1∶ 11.1. At the end of 2014， there were about 97 000 Kongshan cattle， accounting for  59.34%  of the total number of cattle in the county. The population structure was as follows： 8 321 bulls， accounting for 8.6% of the whole population， 88642 cows， accounting for 91.6% of the whole population， and the male-to-female ratio of the whole population was 1∶ 10.5  [11] . However， Yi  et al.   [12]  found that by 2020， the number of purebred cattle in Kongshan had dropped sharply to  2 522 ， and the number of cattle in Kongshan Town， the main producing area， was 1 222. According to the statistics of Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Tongjiang County， there were  30 000  cows in Tongjiang County， and nearly 95% of them contained the blood of Kongshan cattle.

Analysis of body measurements and weight of Kongshan cattle 

Body measurement and weight statistics of Kongshan cattle 

As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2， the body measurements and body weight of 106 Kongshan cattle （29 bulls and 77 cows） at different month ages were measured. It was found that the body measurements and body weight of Kongshan cattle showed a trend of increasing from 12 to 72 months old. Compared with bulls， the body measurement growth curves of cows were gentler， and the body measurements of bulls showed faster growth at the ages of 24 to 48 months old.  The body diagonal lengths and chest girths of cows and bulls showed faster growth rates than body height; and the growth rates of shank circumference were slower and basically  linear.

Body measurement indices

The analysis of body measurement indices was carried out on 106 Kongshan cattle， respectively. The results are shown in Table 1. We found that the body length index and chest circumference index of Kongshan cattle gradually increased with the increase of month age. The body length index， soma index， chest circumference index and index of circumference of cannon bone in cows at the age of 48 months were 116.94%， 122.78%， 143.50% and 14.15%， respectively; and the body length index， soma index， chest circumference index and index of circumference of cannon bone in bulls at the age of 48 months  were 116.39%， 128.01%， 148.59% and 14.72%， respectively.

Changes in body measurements， body weight and growth performance of Kongshan cattle

From the perspective of growth performance， we compared the body measurement and body weight data of adult Kongshan cattle from 1985 to 2021. The data in 1985 came from  Tongjiang Animal Husbandry ; the data in 2005 came from the 2006 edition of  Sichuan Livestock and Poultry Genetic Resources ; and the data in 2021 came from this cattle survey. The results are shown in Table 2. The body measurement and body weight data of Kongshan cattle in 2005 and 2021 were higher than those in 1985. Compared with 1985， the increases in body measurements in 2005 ranged from 3.3% to 11.4%， and the body weights of bulls and cows increased by 19.6% and 29.8%， respectively; and compared with 2005， the body measurement of both bulls and cows all increased in 2021， and the weights of bulls and cows increased by 2.1% and 3.8%， respectively. To sum up， it can be seen that after the development of Kongshan cattle in recent decades， the growth performance of the cattle has been greatly improved， but with the transformation and upgrading of the industry， large-scale production has led to a significant decline in the breeding population of Kongshan cattle （Table 2）.

Discussion and Conclusions

The population of Kongshan cattle has dropped sharply in recent years， and breed protection is imminent. Through the survey， it is found that there are four main reasons for the decline in the number of cattle in Kongshan. First， the ubiquitous situation in the local cattle industry is that the breeding efficiency is not as good as that of beef cattle， and farmers pursue shortage market benefits and sell calves and cows at low prices. The second is that the conservation areas and farms have not fully played their roles. The sources of personnel and funds cannot be guaranteed， and the conservation mechanism is not perfect. The third is that there is currently no breeding base for Kongshan cattle， and the breeding cattle cannot be self-sufficient. Fourth， the advantages and characteristics of Kongshan cattle breed have not been developed， and its market share is insufficient. All of these have led to a rapid decrease in the number of the population. Only by taking corresponding measures to address the problems can we effectively utilize and protect Kongshan cattle germplasm resources.

Through the analysis of body measurements， the growth curves of Kongshan cattle after the first year of life were drawn. It could be seen that after the first year of life， the body measurement indices and body weight increased to varying degrees with the growth of month age. The body measurements and body weight of bulls increased the fastest at the ages of 24-48 months. Compared with other traits， chest girth and diagonal length of the barrel  developed  the fastest during the whole process， while shank circumference increased slowly. In terms of body weight， after the age of 48 months， Kongshan cattle still showed a rapid growth rate， indicating that Kongshan cattle still have a good fattening effect in  adulthood.

Body measurement indices are a method for sorting and analyzing body measurement materials， which reflects whether each part is fully developed， and whether the study objects are symmetrical and conform to the characteristics of a certain production type and variety. The analysis results of the commonly used body measurement indices of Kongshan cattle showed that the body length index and chest circumference index of Kongshan cattle increased with the increase of month age， indicating that Kongshan cattle have better fattening performance.

By comparing the body measurement and body weight data of Kongshan cattle in 1985， 2005 and 2021， it was found that in 2005， the growth performance indices of Kongshan cattle were greatly improved. Specifically， the diagonal length of the barrel of cows increased by 11.4%， and the body weight increased by  29.8%;  and bulls had an increase of 8.7% in diagonal length of the barrel and an increase of 19.6% in body weight. By 2021， the growth performance indices of Kongshan cattle still rose slightly， indicating that the improvement of breeding level improves the growth performance of Kongshan cattle， and it also shows that Kongshan cattle have high-quality growth traits.

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 Editor： Yingzhi GUANG   Proofreader： Xinxiu ZHU