Daughter Calving Ease, Holstein Association USA

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%