Birth Weight and Body Measurements of Crossbred Belgian Blue Calves

The Belgian Blue (BB) cattle breed has been well-known for double muscling. The importation of BB cattle is mainly to increase beef production. A study was done to analyze birth weight and body measurements of newborn crossbred BB calves. Data were collected from Cattle Breeding Centre (Baturaden, Padangmangatas and Sembawa) and Livestock Embryo Centre (Cipelang). The crossbred BB calves were produced by crossing of BB bull and some breed cows (Ongole grade, Friesian Holstein, Simental, Brahman, and Limousine) through artificial insemination. A total of 286 crossbred BB calves from five different crossbreds born in 2018-2019 were used in this study. Data of birth weight (BW), chest girth (CG), body length (BL) and body height (BH) were analyzed using a linear model with genotype, calf sex, and their interaction as sources of variation. Results showed that BW and body measurements were significantly affected by genotypes of the calf (P