Heterogeneity of Variance by Sex in Postweaning Gain of Angus Calves under Different Environment Levels

Angus postweaning daily gain (PWDG) were analyzed to investigate heterogeneous variance by sex. A set of data (16,239 records) was divided into six sub-data sets according to level of environment. REML estimation was conducted by a multitrait model, where PWDG in each sex was treated as a separate trait. Estimates showed diversity among environmental levels, where the heritability for heifers was high in good environment but low in poor environment. The bull's estimates varied among environmental levels. The largest heterogeneity of phenotypic variance between sexes was estimated in a data set of the poor environment level. The genetic correlations between the heifer's PWDG and the bull's PWDG were high in the good environment and low in the poor environment (-0.17). The results suggest existence of genotype by sex interaction in the poor environment.