Table 1.

Descriptive statistics for body conformation traits in Chinese holstein cows

Trait	Mean	SD	CV (%)	Ideal Scores	Optimal Gap
Frame capacity (FC)	86.06	2.01	2.34	100	13.94
Stature (ST)	7.88	0.98	12.44	8	0.12
Chest width (CW)	4.76	0.84	17.65	9	4.24
Body depth (BD)	6.63	0.58	8.75	7	0.37
Loin strength (LS)	7.06	0.73	10.34	9	1.94
Rump (RU)	70.65	3.17	4.49	100	29.35
Pin setting (PS)	4.80	1.07	22.29	5	0.2
Pin width (PW)	6.71	0.68	10.13	9	2.29
Feet and legs (FL)	83.26	3.49	4.19	100	16.74
Feet angle (FA)	5.85	0.96	16.41	7	1.15
Heel depth (HD)	5.71	0.95	16.64	9	3.29
Bone quality (BQ)	6.39	0.79	12.36	9	2.61
Set of rear legs (SRL)	3.02	1.20	39.74	5	1.98
Rear leg-rear view (RLRV)	6.90	1.14	16.52	9	2.1
Mammary system (MS)	82.19	2.67	3.25	100	17.81
Udder depth (UD)	5.02	1.09	21.71	5	-0.02
Median suspensory (MS)	4.99	1.04	20.84	9	4.01
Fore udder attachment (FUA)	5.72	0.83	14.51	9	3.28
Fore teat placement (FTP)	5.06	0.48	9.49	6	0.94
Fore udder length (FUL)	4.61	0.79	17.14	5	0.39
Rear attachment height (RAH)	6.32	0.82	12.97	9	2.68
Rear attachment width (RAW)	6.17	1.05	17.02	9	2.83
Rear teat placement (RTP)	5.71	0.78	13.66	6	0.29
Dairy character (DC)	82.04	2.26	2.75	100	17.96
Angularity (ANG)	5.83	0.67	11.49	9	3.17
Total score (TS)	80.29	1.99	2.48	100	19.71

Ideal score: the most desirable score for each conformation trait; optimal gap: the difference between the mean and the ideal score for each conformation trait. The ST, CW, BD, PS, PW, FA, HD, SRL, UD, MS, FUL, RAH and RAW traits were scored linearly after measurement. The scores of LS, BQ, RLRV, FUA, FTP and RTP traits were scored subjectively. The FC, RU, FL, MS, DC and TS are composite traits