Age at puberty, days to calving and first parity return to oestrus in Australian temperate beef breeds

571 females from six beef breeds (Angus, Brahman, Charolais, Hereford, Shorthorn and Wagyu) from the first cohort of the Southern MultiBreed project were recorded for fertility traits at different physiological stages up until their second mating. Traits included age at puberty, days to calving and days to return to oestrus following first calving. Sire least-square means for these traits were used to examine relationships between traits. There was a strong positive relationship between age at puberty and days to calving, indicating that sires whose progeny reached puberty at a later age also conceived and calved later. There was a weaker positive relationship between age at puberty and return to oestrus indicating that sires whose progeny reached puberty at a later age also took longer to return to oestrus after the birth of their first calf. A weak negative relationship between days to calving and return to oestrus indicates that sires whose progeny calved later in the calving season exhibited a quicker return to oestrus. The nature of the relationship between these two traits was unexpected given previous studies, and further analyses once data from other years/cohorts is available will be required to gain confidence in the nature of the relationships between these three traits.