Development of a structural growth curve model that considers the causal effect of initial phenotypes.

The proposed model is expected to provide more accurate estimates of genetic values for growth patterns because the confounding causal factors such as maternal and reproduction farm effects are removed. Moreover, examination of the inferred curve of the causal effect enabled us to estimate the effect of a calf's initial weight at arbitrary times during growth, which could provide suitable information for decision-making when shifting the time of slaughter, building models for genetic evaluation, and selecting calves for market.