Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Heritability and environmental influence on pre-weaning traits in Kilis goats

  • Regular Articles
  • Published:
Tropical Animal Health and Production Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Birth and weaning weights, average daily weight gain, and Kleiber ratio are important indicator traits in selection decision. The phenotypic expression of these traits is determined by the genetic background, environmental effects, and their interactions. The objective of this study was to estimate genetic parameters regarding birth (BW) and weaning weights (WW) and average daily weight gain (ADWG), Kleiber ratio (KR), and obtain the effects of sex, birth type, herd, and year. The data consisted of 2274 Kilis goats with pedigree information obtained from 53 bucks and 774 does in 4 generations. The restricted maximum likelihood (REML) procedure was conducted with an animal linear mixed model. Sex, birth type, herd, and year were found to be statistically significant (p value < 0.001) for all traits. Moderate direct heritabilities (ha2) for BW, WW, ADW, and KR were found to be as 0.18 ± 0.03, 0.50 ± 0.04, 0.47 ± 0.04, and 0.37 ± 0.05, respectively. The proportion of maternal permanent environmental effect (c2) to the total phenotypic variance (σ2p) was estimated as 0.00 ± 0.00, 0.12 ± 0.02, 0.11 ± 0.02, and 0.18 ± 0.03 for BW, WW, ADWG, and KR, respectively. The genetic, phenotypic, and environmental correlations between the pre-weaning growth traits were found to be ranging from − 0.02 to 0.99. Thus, our study suggests moderate heritabilities and positive and relatively high genetic correlations among the observed pre-weaning growth traits. These results have implications in terms of providing rapid genetic progress for these traits in breeding programs of Kilis goats.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

References

  • Abegaz, S., Wyk, J.B. Van and Olivier, J.J., 2005. Model comparisons and genetic and environmental parameter estimates of growth and the Kleiber ratio in Horro sheep

  • Akaike, H., 1998. Information theory and an extension of the maximum likelihood principle In:, Selected papers of hirotugu akaike, (Springer), 199–213

  • Anggraeni, A., Saputra, F., Hafid, A. and Ishak, A.B.L., 2020. Non-Genetic and Genetic Effects on Growth Traits from Birth to 120 days of Age of G2 Sapera Goat Jurnal Ilmu Ternak dan Veteriner, 25, 48 (Indonesian Center for Animal Research and Development (ICARD))

  • Arzik, Y., Kizilaslan, M., White, S.N., Piel, L.M.W. and Cinar, M.U., 2022. Estimates of genomic heritability and genome-wide association studies for blood parameters in Akkaraman sheep Scientific Reports, 12, 18477

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Assan, N., 2020. Africa Animal Genetic Resources View project Harnessing Genetic Diversity in Local and Improved Goat Types through Improved Nutrition for Efficiency in Meat Production in Zimbabwe. View project. https://doi.org/10.14196/aa.v9i5.645

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baneh, H., Najafi, M. and Rahimi, G., 2012. Genetic parameter estimates for early growth traits in Naeini goat Animal Production Science, 52, 1046–1051

    Google Scholar 

  • Bangar, Y.C., Magotra, A. and Yadav, A.S., 2020. Variance components and genetic parameter estimates for pre-weaning and post-weaning growth traits in Jakhrana goat Small Ruminant Research, 193 (Elsevier B.V.)

  • Barazandeh, A., Moghbeli, S.M., Vatankhah, M. and Mohammadabadi, M., 2012. Estimating non-genetic and genetic parameters of pre-weaning growth traits in Raini Cashmere goat Tropical Animal Health and Production, 44, 811–817

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Behrem, S., 2021a. Effects of Environmental Factors Growth Traits of Akkaraman Sheep in Çankırı Province Livestock Studies, 61, 22–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Behrem, S., 2021b. Estimation of genetic parameters for pre-weaning growth traits in Central Anatolian Merino sheep Small Ruminant Research, 106319

  • Dige, M.S., Rout, P.K., Singh, M.K., Dass, G., Kaushik, R. and Gowane, G.R., 2021. Estimation of co (variance) components and genetic parameters for growth and feed efficiency traits in Jamunapari goat Small Ruminant Research, 196 (Elsevier B.V.)

  • Elmaz, Ö., Saatcı, M., Dağ, B., Aktaş, A.H., Ata, A., Gülay, M.Ş., Mamak, N. and Gök, B., 2012. Some descriptive characteristics of a new goat breed called Honamli in Turkey Tropical Animal Health and Production, 44, 1913–1920 (Kluwer Academic Publishers)

  • Faruque, S., Chowdhury, S.A., Siddiquee, N.U. and Afroz, M.A., 2010. Performance and genetic parameters of economically important traits of Black Bengal goat J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ, 8, 67–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, T.M., Gilmour, A.R. and van der Werf, J.H.J., 2004. Computing approximate standard errors for genetic parameters derived from random regression models fitted by average information REML Genetics Selection Evolution, 36, 1–8 (BioMed Central)

  • Gül, S., Mahmut, K., Biçer, O., Gündüz, Z. and Behrem, S., 2020. Effects of different lambing season on some reproductive characteristics of ewes and growth performance of lambs in Awassi sheep Lalahan Hayvancılık Araştırma Enstitüsü Dergisi, 60, 32–36

    Google Scholar 

  • Gül, S., Keskin, M., Göçmez, Z. and Gündüz, Z., 2016. Effects of supplemental feeding on performance of Kilis goats kept on pasture condition Italian Journal of Animal Science, 15, 110–115 (Taylor and Francis Ltd.)

  • Gül, S., Keskin, M., Güler, Z., Dursun, A., Gündüz, Z., Önel, S.E. and Bebek, D.T., 2018. Effects of Pre-milking Resting on Some Lactation Characteristics of Damascus (Shami) and Kilis Goats Hayvansal Üretim, 59, 17–24

  • Hafez, E.S.E., 1962. Reproduction in Farm Animals, 2.nd editi (Lea and Febiger: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammoud, M.H. and Salem, M.M.I., 2019. Estimates of variance components and heritabilities of pre-weaning growth traits of Anglo-Nubian and Baladi kids

  • Husain, S.S., Horst, P. and Islam, A.B.M.M., 1996. Study on the growth performance of Black Bengal goats in different periods

  • Joy, A., Dunshea, F.R., Leury, B.J., Clarke, I.J., Digiacomo, K. and Chauhan, S.S., 2020. Resilience of small ruminants to climate change and increased environmental temperature: A review Animals, 10

  • Keskin, M., Gül, S., Biçer, O. and DAŞKIRAN, İ., 2017. Some reproductive, lactation, and kid growth characteristics of Kilis goats under semiintensive conditions Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 41, 248–254 (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey)

  • Kizilaslan, M., Arzik, Y., Cinar, M.U. and Konca, Y., 2021. Genome-wise engineering of ruminant nutrition-nutrigenomics: applications, challenges, and future perspectives–a review Annals of Animal Science, https://doi.org/10.2478/aoas-2021-0057

  • Kleiber, M., 1947. Body size and metabolic rate Physiological reviews, 27, 511–541

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Magotra, A., Bangar, Y.C., Chauhan, A., Malik, B.S. and Malik, Z.S., 2021. Influence of maternal and additive genetic effects on offspring growth traits in Beetal goat Reproduction in Domestic Animals, 56, 983–991 (John Wiley and Sons Inc)

  • Menezes, L.M., Sousa, W.H., Cavalcanti-Filho, E.P. and Gama, L.T., 2016. Genetic parameters for reproduction and growth traits in Boer goats in Brazil Small Ruminant Research, 136, 247–256 (Elsevier B.V.)

  • Meyer, K., 2007. WOMBAT: a tool for mixed model analyses in quantitative genetics by restricted maximum likelihood (REML). Journal of Zhejiang University. Science. B., 8, 815–821

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Mohammed, K.M., El-Den, M.A.K. and Dahmoush, A.Y., 2018. Heritability and variance components estimates for growth traits in Saudi Ardi goat and Damascus goat and their crosses Asian Pacific Journal of Reproduction, 7, 39–46 (Medknow Publications)

  • R Core Team, 2020. R: A language and environment for statistical computing.

  • Rashidi, A., Bishop, S.C. and Matika, O., 2011. Genetic parameter estimates for pre-weaning performance and reproduction traits in Markhoz goats Small Ruminant Research, 100, 100–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rout, P.K., Matika, O., Kaushik, R., Dige, M.S., Dass, G., Singh, M.K. and Bhusan, S., 2018. Genetic analysis of growth parameters and survival potential of Jamunapari goats in semiarid tropics Small Ruminant Research, 165, 124–130 (Elsevier B.V.)

  • Schoeman, S.J., Els, J.F. and ’ M.M.V.N., 1997. Variance components of early growth traits in the Boer goat

  • Şen, U., Şirin, E., Filik, A.G., Önder, H., Piwczyński, D. and Kolenda, M., 2021. Growth and slaughter characteristics of weaning male kids of turkish native goat breeds Animals, 11 (MDPI)

  • Tatar, A.M., Tuncer, S.S. and Şireli, D., 2019. Comparison of yield characteristics of Damascus and Kilis goats in dry climatic conditions

  • Tesema, Z., Alemayehu, K., Getachew, T., Kebede, D., Deribe, B., Taye, M., Tilahun, M., Lakew, M., Kefale, A., Belayneh, N., Zegeye, A. and Yizengaw, L., 2020a. Estimation of genetic parameters for growth traits and Kleiber ratios in Boer x Central Highland goat Tropical Animal Health and Production, 52, 3195–3205 (Springer Science and Business Media B.V.)

  • Tesema, Z., Alemayehu, K., Kebede, D., Getachew, T., Deribe, B., Taye, M., Tilahun, M., Kefale, A., Zegeye, A., Belayneh, N. and Yizengaw, L., 2020b. Genetic analysis of survival potential of Boer x Central Highland goats under semi-intensive management Small Ruminant Research, 193 (Elsevier B.V.)

  • TUIK, 2020. Livestock Production, Number of Sheep and Goat

  • Tygesen, M.P., Nielsen, M.O., Nørgaard, P., Ranvig, H., Harrison, A.P. and Tauson, A.-H., 2008. Late gestational nutrient restriction: Effects on ewes’ metabolic and homeorhetic adaptation, consequences for lamb birth weight and lactation performance Archives of animal nutrition, 62, 44–59 (Taylor & Francis)

  • Yilmaz, O., Kizilaslan, M., Arzik, Y., Behrem, S., Ata, N., Karaca, O., Elmaci, C. and Cemal, I., 2022. Genome-wide association studies of preweaning growth and in vivo carcass composition traits in Esme sheep Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 139, 26–39

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yilmaz, O., Kor, A., Ertugrul, M. and Wilson, R.T., 2012. The domestic livestock resources of Turkey: goat breeds and types and their conservation status Animal Genetic Resources/Ressources génétiques animales/Recursos genéticos animales, 51, 105–116 (Cambridge University Press (CUP))

  • Zhang, C.Y., Zhang, Y., Xu, D.Q., Li, X., Su, J. and Yang, L.G., 2009. Genetic and phenotypic parameter estimates for growth traits in Boer goat Livestock Science, 124, 66–71

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The animals were under the National Community-based Small Ruminant Breeding Programme. Therefore, the authors kindly acknowledge the contribution of the General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) of the Republic of Turkey, who fund and run the National Community-based Small Ruminant Breeding Program.

Funding

The study was funded by the General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry) of the Republic of Turkey.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agriculture Faculty, Mustafa Kemal University, Hatay, Turkey

    Sabri Gul & Mahmut Keskin

  2. International Centre for Livestock Research and Training, Ankara, Turkey

    Yunus Arzik & Mehmet Kizilaslan

  3. Veterinary Faculty, Aksaray University, Aksaray, Turkey

    Sedat Behrem

Authors
  1. Sabri Gul
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yunus Arzik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mehmet Kizilaslan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sedat Behrem
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Mahmut Keskin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation and data collection were conducted by S. Gul and M. Keskin. Analysis was performed by S. Behrem, Y. Arzik, and M. Kizilaslan. The first draft of the manuscript was written by S. Behrem, Y. Arzik, and M. Kizilaslan. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sabri Gul.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval

According the Regulation on the Working Procedures and Principles of Animal Experiments Ethics Committees dated 15.02.2014 and numbered 28914 of the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, since this study does not include any clinical practice or patient data, there is no need for an ethics committee decision.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gul, S., Arzik, Y., Kizilaslan, M. et al. Heritability and environmental influence on pre-weaning traits in Kilis goats. Trop Anim Health Prod 55, 85 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-023-03509-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-023-03509-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation