Czech J. Anim. Sci., 2018, 63(8):305-312 | DOI: 10.17221/21/2018-CJAS

Response to selection of a breeding program for Suffolk sheep in the Czech RepublicOriginal Paper

Martin Ptáček*,1, Jaromír Ducháček1, Jitka Schmidová2, Luděk Stádník1
1 Department of Animal Husbandry, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Institute of Animal Science, Prague-Uhříněves, Czech Republic

Lamb growth performance traits in relation to parental breeding values (BVs) for these traits were evaluated in a purebred Suffolk sheep population in the Czech Republic. The research lasted over 8 years and included 24 886 lambs. Four relevant parental BVs were observed: BV predicted for lamb live weight direct effect (BVLW-DE), BV predicted for lamb live weight maternal effect (BVLW-ME), BV predicted for lamb musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis depth (BV-MLLT), and BV predicted for lamb backfat thickness (BV-BT). The lamb live weight (LW; kg), musculus longissimus lumborum et thoracis depth (MLLT; mm), and backfat thickness (BT; mm) were assessed at 100 days of age. A dataset was created using the most current parental BVs for each year (2007-2014) and subsequent growth traits of their lambs in the next season (2008-2015). Linear regressions showed an increased tendency when one point in dam BVs was associated with an increase in lamb LW (0.393 kg; P < 0.01 in BVLW-DE and 0.090 kg; P < 0.05 in BVLW-ME), MLLT (0.340 mm; P < 0.01 in BV-MLLT), or BT (0.243; P < 0.01 mm in BV-BT). Lower (but significant - P < 0.01) values on linear regression were detected for sire BVs, when 0.135 kg of LW, 0.217 mm of MLLT, and 0.214 mm of BT corresponded to 1-point increases of BVLW-DE, BV-MLLT, or BV-BT. This was confirmed by ANOVA evaluation, especially for LW and MLLT traits. Maximal differences (P < 0.05) in lamb LW were 1.84 kg or 0.88 kg regarding to dam or sire BVLW-DE groups. Similarly, the difference (P < 0.05) in lamb MLLT reached 0.82 mm in dam BV-MLLT, while 0.57 mm was detected in sire BV-MLLT groups. These results have practical implications for the objectives of selection schemes used in the Suffolk sheep population in the Czech Republic.

Keywords: lamb; breeding values; growth performance traits; performance recording

Published: August 31, 2018  Show citation

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Ptáček M, Ducháček J, Schmidová J, Stádník L. Response to selection of a breeding program for Suffolk sheep in the Czech Republic. Czech J. Anim. Sci. 2018;63(8):305-312. doi: 10.17221/21/2018-CJAS.
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