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Daughter Calving Ease

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Daughter Calving Ease (DCE) measures the ability of a cow to calve easily. Evaluations are expressed as percent difficult births (categories 4 & 5) for first calf heifers. Percent difficult births among first calf Holsteins cows is approximately 8%. Listed below is a description of the codes used for scoring this trait as well as their frequency within the Holstein breed.



Calving Ease Codes - description and frequency
   
Frequency of Calving Difficulty
Score Definition
1st calf
2nd calf
3rd calf
1 No problem (or unobserved)
63%
80%
81%
2 Slight problem
15%
10%
9%
3 Cow needed assistance
14%
7%
7%
4 Considerable force used to deliver calf
5%
2%
2%
5 Extreme difficult birth
3%
1%
1%