Which livestock traits have intermediate heritability?

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Red Poll cows — Animal breeding Red Poll cow and calf.

In the context of animal breeding, traits related to production are generally characterized by intermediate heritability.1

Examples of these traits include:

The amount of milk produced by a cow.1
The rates of weight gain in pigs and steers.1
The number of eggs laid by chickens.1

Heritability represents the proportion of additive genetic variation to total phenotypic variation, and understanding its magnitude is a primary consideration when designing effective breeding programs. While fertility traits typically exhibit low heritability and quality traits tend to have higher heritability, intermediate traits provide a balance that influences how breeders select for specific performance outcomes.21