With the aim of a better understanding of quantitative growth traits in Nellore cattle, some parameters were estimated: variance components and heritability coefficients of weight gains between the standardized ages of 120 and 240, 240 and 365, 365 and 455, and 455 and 555 days, and of scrotal circumference gains between the standardized ages of 365 and 455, and 455 and 555 days; and (co)variance components and genetic correlations between weight and scrotal circumference gains. Information from 29,769 records of weight gain and 15,676 records of scrotal circumference gain were analyzed to obtain the (co)variance component estimates. The restricted maximum likelihood, derivative free, under an animal model was the method of choice. The results were the following: 0.32 for the direct genetic heritability and 0.13 for the maternal genetic heritability coefficients for weight gain between 120 and 240 days of age; 0.16, 0.22 and 0.23 for the direct genetic heritability coefficients for weight gain between the ages of 240 and 365, 365 and 455, and 455 and 550 days respectively; 0.24 and 0.18 for the direct genetic heritability coefficients for scrotal circumference gain between the ages of 365 and 455, and 455 and 550 respectively; and genetic correlation of 0.18 between the weight and the scrotal circumference gains.
cattle; (co)variance components; Nellore; scrotal circumference gain; weight gain
