Genetic trends for objectively measured and subjectively assessed traits in a Dorper sheep flock

Genetic trends were constructed to monitor the genetic change for subjectively assessed and objectively measured traits using data emanating from complete records from the National Small Stock Improvement Scheme database and performance records accumulated by a single breeder over a period of 24 years. The objectively measured production traits considered were weaning weight, post-weaning weight (PWW), yearling weight, average daily weight gain to weaning (ADGW), average daily weight gain during post-weaning phase (ADGPW) and average daily weight gain up to yearling age. The subjectively assessed traits (scored on a five-point scale) were conformation, fat distribution, size, type and colour. Direct genetic trends for live weight and growth traits (with the exception of ADGPW) were positive. All the objectively measured traits where maternal effects were significant, except PWW, registered small declines in maternal breeding values. The fastest genetic progress was attained by ADGW, which amounted to 0.29 % of the overall phenotypic mean per annum. Conformation and type exhibited positive but slow increments in direct breeding values at an equivalent annual rate amounting to 0.12 and 0.09 % of the overall phenotypic mean, respectively. Size demonstrated a negative genetic trend of ?0.14 % of the overall phenotypic mean per annum. Genetic trends for fat distribution and colour were negligible. It was concluded that breeders should focus more on the performance recording of objective traits as they are likely to respond favourably to selection pressure.     

Evaluating breeding objectives for sow productivity and production traits in Large White Pigs

the objective of the study was to develop and evaluate different breeding objectives for sow productivity and for production traits, using economic selection indices. Genetic parameters were generated using a repeated records model for sow productivity traits and a maternal effects model for production traits, in ASREML. Stochastic simulation models based on a hypothetical 100-sow model were performed for each line, i.e., a dam line and a terminal sire line, respectively, to derive economic values. The traits included in the study were number born alive (NBA), 21-day litter size (D21LS), 21-day litter weight (D21LWT), average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), age at slaughter (AGES), dressing percentage (DRESS), lean content (LEAN) and backfat thickness (BFAT). The economic values for LEAN and BFAT were derived using the partial differentiation of the profit function, while those for the other traits were derived using the partial budget approach. An economic value of a trait was the change in profit per unit genetic change in that trait. Breeding objectives were developed with a corresponding selection index, for improvement of that objective. Three combinations of breeding objectives and selection indices were developed for sow productivity traits, while there were 15 combinations for production traits. Responses to selection and economic return were computed for each combination to determine the most appropriate combination for the improvement of the breeding objective traits. The most appropriate index to improve sow productivity consisted of NBA and D21LWT. For production traits, the combination that consisted of a selection index with AGES, DRESS and BFAT, and the breeding objective ADG, DRESS, FCR and LEAN, was considered the most appropriate. Age at slaughter and BFAT were, respectively, included as indicator traits for ADG and LEAN. The recommended breeding objectives were sensitive to changes in economic values, indicating that economic values for breeding goal traits should be updated periodically to ensure proper weighting of traits, hence maximization of economic return.     

Communal goat production in Southern Africa: a review

Despite the fact that about 64% of goats in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are located in rural arid (38%) and semi-arid (26%) agro-ecological zones and that more than 90% of goats in these zones are indigenous, information on indigenous breeds is inadequate. This paper reviews the social and economic importance of goats to the communal farmer and assesses the potential of using goats in rural development in Southern Africa. Farmers in Southern Africa largely use the village goat management system. There are various goat breeds in Southern Africa, of which the Mashona, Matabele, Tswana, Nguni and the Landim are the dominant ones. It is, however, not clear if these breeds are distinct. Major constraints to goat production include high disease and parasite prevalence, low levels of management, limited forage availability and poor marketing management. Potential research areas that are required to ensure that goats are vehicles for rural development include evaluation of constraints to goat production, assessing the contribution of goats to household economies and food securities throughout the year, genetic and phenotypic characterisation of the indigenous breeds to identify appropriate strains and sustainable methods of goat improvement through either selection or crossbreeding.     

Milk utilisation patterns in the low-input production systems in South Africa

Understanding the utilisation patterns of milk assists in designing appropriate dairy development schemes in rural communities. The objective of the study was to determine milk utilisation patterns in different smallholder farming systems in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Data were collected through the administration of recording sheets to 130 randomly selected households in Alice, Fort Beaufort and Queenstown districts. Amounts of milk produced per household ranged from 9 to 21 l per household per day. Milk consumption/household/day was similar among the three districts. Milk consumption in the early lactation doubled the amount consumed in late lactation (P < 0.05). Milk in the communal areas was largely utilised as fresh or sour milk. Fresh milk was mostly used in tea/coffee or to make porridge for children. Sour milk was consumed with thick boiled maize meal. Fort Beaufort (10.2 ± 1.37 l/day) had the highest sour milk sales whilst Queenstown had the highest fresh milk sales (9.7 ± 5.57 l/day). It was concluded that quantities of milk consumed or sold as fresh or sour were generally low and varied across smallholder farming systems.     

Intake,digestibility, rumen protein synthesis,and growth performance of Malawi Zebu steers fed diets containing rangeland-based protein sources

Tropical Animal Health and Production - The study evaluated effects of feeding Malawi Zebu steers with diets containing baobab (Adansonia digitata) seed meal and white thorn tree (Vachellia...     

Genetic diversity and conservation of South African indigenous chicken populations

In this study, we compare the level and distribution of genetic variation between South African conserved and village chicken populations using microsatellite markers. In addition, diversity in South African chickens was compared to that of a reference data set consisting of other African and purebred commercial lines. Three chicken populations Venda, Ovambo and Eastern Cape and four conserved flocks of the Venda, Ovambo, Naked Neck and Potchefstroom Koekoek from the Poultry Breeding Resource Unit of the Agricultural Research Council were genotyped at 29 autosomal microsatellite loci. All markers were polymorphic. Village chicken populations were more diverse than conservation flocks. structure software was used to cluster individuals to a predefined number of 2 ≤ K ≤ 6 clusters. The most probable clustering was found at K = 5 (95% identical runs). At this level of differentiation, the four conservation flocks separated as four independent clusters, while the three village chicken populations together formed another cluster. Thus, cluster analysis indicated a clear subdivision of each of the conservation flocks that were different from the three village chicken populations. The contribution of each South African chicken populations to the total diversity of the chickens studied was determined by calculating the optimal core set contributions based on Marker estimated kinship. Safe set analysis was carried out using bootstrapped kinship values calculated to relate the added genetic diversity of seven South African chicken populations to a set of reference populations consisting of other African and purebred commercial broiler and layer chickens. In both core set and the safe set analyses, village chicken populations scored slightly higher to the reference set compared to conservation flocks. Overall, the present study demonstrated that the conservation flocks of South African chickens displayed considerable genetic variability that is different from that of the assumed founder populations (village chickens).     

Milk production of Jersey and Fleckvieh × Jersey cows in a pasture-based feeding system

Milk production parameters of purebred Jersey (J) cows and Fleckvieh?×?Jersey (F?×?J) cows in a pasture-based feeding system were compared using standard milk recording procedures. Milk, fat and protein production was adjusted to 305 days per lactation and corrected for age at calving. Effects of breed, parity, month and year were estimated for milk, fat and protein yield as well as fat and protein percentage, using the general linear model procedure. Fixed effects identified as affecting milk production parameters significantly were breed, parity and year. F?×?J cows produced significantly more milk than J cows (6141?±?102 and 5398?±?95 kg milk, respectively). Similarly, fat and protein yields were significantly higher in F?×?J (272?±?4 and 201?±?3 kg, respectively) than in Jersey cows (246?±?3 and 194?±?2 kg, respectively). Fat and protein percentages only differed slightly in absolute terms being 4.61?±?0.04 % fat in the Jersey compared to 4.47?±?0.04 % fat in the F?×?J. Protein levels for J and F?×?J cows were 3.62?±?0.03 and 3.51?±?0.03 %, respectively. Despite a lower fat percentage, F?×?J crossbred cows may be more productive than purebred Jersey cows which may be due to heterotic effects.     

Determination of economic weights for breeding traits in indigenous Nguni cattle under in-situ conservation

This study was conducted to determine the economic weights of most preferred traits in young breeding Nguni bulls and first parity cows. Fifty-four farmers from low-input cattle production enterprises participated in the choice experiment. Sixteen individual animal profiles were formulated from four traits of three levels each using a fractional orthogonal design of SPSS 14.0 (2005). 120 pair-wise choices were deduced for each breeding animal class. A total of 6480 (54×120) observations were obtained for each class of the animals. Data was subjected to multinomial logit (MNL) models using econometric software NLOGIT 4.0.1 Version (2007). All computed economic values for bull traits were significant (p<0.05). The economic weights of bull traits were poor body condition score (−0.99±0.095), good body condition score (0.45±0.073), over-conditioned (base level), low tick infestation (0.57±0.103), medium tick infestation (0.58±0.084), high tick infestation (base level), high aggression and mating behavior (4.41±0.095), average aggression and mating behavior (2.53±0.094), and low aggression and mating behavior (base level). The economic weights of first parity cow traits were poor body condition score (−0.06±0.055), good body condition score (1.08±0.061), over-conditioned (base level), low tick infestation (1.50±0.059), medium tick infestation (0.83±0.067), high tick infestation (base level), age at first calving of ≤27 months (2.37±0.068), age at first calving of 27–36 months (1.30±0.076), and age at first calving of >36 months (base level). Farmers were willing to pay R37,939 (US$4864) for a bull with high aggression and mating behavior score and R17,185 (US$2203) for a first parity cow of less than 27 months old. Enterprise ownership and demographics factors of the farmers were significant in determining economic weights within trait levels. Economic weights were high for reproductive efficiency of the breeding animals followed by the high adaptive characteristics. The choice experiment procedure can be the tool for determining importance of animal characteristics under low-input production systems. It is recommended to make use of the economic weights of preferential traits in designing selection models.     

Genetic parameters for tick counts across months for different tick species and anatomical locations in South African Nguni cattle

The objective of the study was to characterise genetic parameters across months for different tick species and anatomical locations in South African Nguni cattle. Tick counts were conducted monthly, over a 2-year period, on 586 Nguni cattle under natural infestation, from four herds located in different provinces of South Africa. The counts were recorded for six species of ticks (Amblyomma hebraeum, Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi, Rhipicephalus decoleratus and microplus (Boofilids), Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, Rhipicephalus simus and Hyalomma marginatum) attached on eight anatomical locations on the animals and were summed by species and anatomical location. Heritability estimates, phenotypic and genetic correlations were estimated on a monthly basis using mixed linear models, fitting univariate and bivariate sire models. Fixed effects considered were location, sex, year and age as a covariate. Tick counts were higher in the hot months, and A. hebraeum was the most dominant tick species. Heritability estimates for tick count varied by month and trait and ranged from 0 to 0.89. Genetic correlations were mostly positive, and low to high, with some negative correlations with high standard error. Phenotypic correlations were low to moderate. In general, high genetic correlations were observed between whole body count and the anatomical location counts, suggesting that it may not be necessary to conduct whole body counts. Counts from the belly and perineum appeared to be the most suitable surrogate traits for whole body count. These findings provide useful information for developing strategies for the practical implementation of genetic selection, as a supplement to the traditional tick control measures.