Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Research, Tennessee State University, Nashville, Tennessee 37209-1561, USA.
J Anim Sci. 2011 Sep;89(9):2696-707. doi: 10.2527/jas.2011-3865. Epub 2011 Apr 15.
Boer, Kiko, and Spanish meat goats were semi-intensively managed in a complete 3-breed diallel mating scheme to evaluate genetic effects on preweaning kid performance. Over a 6-yr period, 1,547 kids were born in March and May with 1,173 kids raised by their dams to weaning at 3 mo of age. March-born kids were lighter (P < 0.01) at birth, but had greater (P < 0.01) preweaning ADG and survival rates and heavier (P < 0.01) weaning weights than May-born kids. For birth weight, the direct Boer effect was positive (P < 0.01) and direct effects were negative (P < 0.01) for Kiko and Spanish. The direct Kiko effect for preweaning ADG was positive (P < 0.05), whereas other direct breed effects for ADG and all direct effects for weaning weight did not differ from 0 (P > 0.10). Maternal Boer effects were negative (P < 0.01) for birth weight and weaning weight, whereas maternal Kiko effects were significantly (P < 0.05) positive for preweaning ADG and weaning weight. Maternal Spanish effect was positive (P < 0.05) for birth weight, but did not differ from 0 (P > 0.5) for preweaning ADG or weaning weight. Heterosis for birth weight was exhibited (P < 0.01) for each pair of breed crosses, but only between Boer and Kiko for ADG and weaning weight. Kiko and Spanish dams had greater (P < 0.01) preweaning kid survival rates than Boer dams, but the former 2 did not differ (P = 0.72). Significant genetic variation was observed between meat goat breeds for kid performance to weaning. Maternal breed effects were more influential than direct breed effects. Boer goats were not superior to Kiko or Spanish for preweaning kid performance when semi-intensively managed on humid, subtropical pasture. Kiko should be a preferred breed and to a lesser extent Spanish for enhancing birth to weaning kid performance. Findings of this study emphasize the importance of proper doe breed selection in achieving desired kid performance to weaning in meat goats.
布埃尔、奇可和西班牙肉用山羊采用完全三品种完全双列杂交设计进行半集约化管理，以评估遗传效应对断奶前羔羊性能的影响。在 6 年的时间里，3 月和 5 月有 1547 只羔羊出生，其中 1173 只由其母羊饲养至 3 月龄断奶。3 月出生的羔羊出生时体重较轻（P<0.01），但断奶前 ADG 和成活率较高（P<0.01），断奶体重较重（P<0.01）。对于初生重，直接布埃尔效应为正（P<0.01），直接效应为负（P<0.01）对于奇可和西班牙。断奶前 ADG 的直接奇可效应为正（P<0.05），而 ADG 和断奶体重的其他直接品种效应与 0 没有差异（P>0.10）。母本布埃尔效应为负（P<0.01）出生体重和断奶体重，而母本奇可效应显著（P<0.05）断奶前 ADG 和断奶体重呈正相关。母本西班牙效应为正（P<0.05）出生体重，但断奶前 ADG 或断奶体重与 0 无差异（P>0.5）。杂种优势在每个品种杂交对中都有表现（P<0.01），但仅在布埃尔和奇可之间存在 ADG 和断奶体重的差异。奇可和西班牙母羊断奶前羔羊成活率较高（P<0.01）比布埃尔母羊高，但前两者之间没有差异（P=0.72）。在半集约化管理潮湿亚热带牧场上，肉用山羊品种间的断奶前羔羊性能存在显著的遗传变异。母本品种效应比直接品种效应更有影响力。在半集约化管理潮湿亚热带牧场上，与奇可或西班牙相比，布埃尔山羊在断奶前羔羊性能方面并不优越。奇可应是首选品种，而西班牙的重要性略低，可提高从出生到断奶的羔羊性能。本研究的结果强调了在肉用山羊中适当选择母羊品种以实现断奶前羔羊性能的重要性。
