Efficiency in Livestock Production #1 Flashcards
What is efficiency?
Minimize what goes in, maximize what comes out
Cycle of a breeding program
Definition of breeding goals, recording & identification of animal with desirable traits, utilization of selected animals for reproduction, evaluation of the obtained response
What are the goals?
Improve production (growth and feed conversion), improve health (animal well being, soundness, reproduction (fertility and parturition performance)
Production traits
Animals with faster growth, high egg or milk production, improved feed conversion, leaner or fatter animals, carcass traits tend to be highly heritable
Are production traits relatively easy to select for or not?
Yes
High egg or milk production in ducks and cows
Ducks is 13-30 over 300
Cows is 18k to 24k lbs/cow/year (1.5%)
Health traits
Selecting animals with high health status, avoiding recessive disorders, selecting for disease or environmental resistance, avoid making selections that lead to unintended consequences
Examples of selecting animals with high health status
Genes for immunocompetence in pigs, lameness or mastitis in dairy cows
Examples of avoiding recessive disorders
Osteoporosis and dwarfism in beef
Examples of avoiding making selections that lead to unintended consequences
Birthing, trouble, lameness, breast abnormalities
Reproduction things to consider
Terminal vs maternal breeding, selection for litter size/birth weight, teats and milk production (weaning weight), poultry breeders (egg size and #)
Is reproduction highly or lowly heritable?
Lowly heritable
How are litter size and birth weight a double-edged sword?
Inversely related. The bigger the litter, the smaller the weight and vice versa
EPD stand for..?
Expected progeny difference
What is EPD?
Predictions on the performance of an individual as a parents
How is EPD measured?
Based on measurements of its own performance and that of relatives
Regarding EDP, what values are given?
Values given compared to breed average for the year
Order of genetic lines from biggest to smallest
Broilers, parent stock, grand parent stock, grade grand parent, pedigree elite stock