1. HOW TO SELECT ANIMALS FOR BREEDING AND HOW TO GET THE BEST RESULT FROM THE SELECTION OF ANIMALS FOR BREEDING. Lecture 5 : Selection of Breeding Stock

2. Which cow is the best ?

3. How do you know which cow is the best ?

4. And how to make it better?

5. How to select the best animals for breeding ! Selection procedure in 6 steps : 1) Formulate the Breeding Goal = determine what has to be achieved 2) Take a Breeding Decision = determine which father may pair with which mother 3) Formulate the Utility Goals = determine the selection characteristics of the animals 4) Formulate the Utility Demands = determine the concrete properties 5) Estimate the Breeding Value = determine how much the animals contribute to the goal by :

6. How to select the best animals for breeding ! 5a) h 2 = heridity degree = a number between 0 and 1 indicating for how much % a characteristic is determined by heridity (see page 86 chapter 7) 5b) Sources of information :

7. How to select the best animals for breeding ! 6) Selection of animals based on : a) Pedigree b) Shows c) Experience of breeders with the animals d) How does the bull compensate the minor charateristics of the cow without losing the good characteristics of the cow

8. Breeding Goal When you formulate your breeding goal, always be  Specific  Measurable  Acceptable  Realistic  Timetable I want more milk  WRONG I want more healthier cows!  WRONG I want to create better fertility  WRONG I want to have 4% fat in my milk  Less WRONG

9. S.M.A.R.T. What are you doing now:  Now I milk 65 cows with an average of 10.000 kg milk a year, a 4.50% fat and 3.60% protein on a average age of 6 years What do you want to achieve?  I want to milk more!  Not Smart  I want to milk 500 kg milk a year more at the end of 2019 Specific  500KG  Measurable Acceptable  Yes  Realistic Timetable  End of 2019

10. Breeding decision What kind of breed do you choose? What are the opposites of choosing a different breed? Based on what arguments do I make a decision? Kind of breeds, popular in Holland: Holstein, Brown-Swiss, Fleckvieh, Belgian White-Blue, Do you choose for milk of meat?

11. Just pick one? Arguments could be de Breeding Value Index For this BVI, you calculate the hereditary predisposition. How to measure milk production of a bull? How to measure easy calving of a bull? It requires time! And a lot of data!

12. Cow data? BVI on your farm  MEASUREMENT! Every cow has a mother, and a grandmother, and a grand-grandmother, and a grand-grand- grandmother and they all produced! Half of genetics is of the mother, remember! BVI you need on your farm for important choices

13. Cow index How to choose with calves you want to maintain? Which bull do you want to choose  Milk or Meat? Which cows do you want to sale? Cow index trough measurement!

14. Measure what? In order to find the best animals you need to measure the production results. As environmental factors are so important You must always examine the results in comparison with the group average under the same conditions.

15. Same conditions? It is difficult to compare animals when they have had different stabling and consequently different feeding. In addition a lot of variation is also based on coincidence. As a consequence the actual hereditary predisposition (breeding value) becomes even harder to estimate and thus more inaccurate. An observation of an animal is certainly not a reliable determination of the genes of that animal.

16. Can we start breeding? Before you start breeding you need to measure the production results and pick the best animals. Is this superiority actually hereditary? What part can be attributed to superior additive hereditary predisposition? The hereditary predisposition, the breeding value, cannot be seen. What you can see (and measure) is the phenotypic value.

17. The phenotype is the result of, among other things, the genotype. You can determine to what extent the offspring display the good performances of the parents. You can then assume that that part has (also) been determined genetically. You cannot be certain for one or a few offspring as the influence of coincidental circumstances then plays too much of a role However the average of a large group of offspring is a clear indicator for genotypic predisposition.

18. Hereditary Establish the superiority for milkproduction Select a few cows that gave 1000 kg milk more a year than the average of their group. Also select a bull with BVI +1000kg milk After mating the offspring of these parents appear to on average produce 250kg more milk a year than the average of their group.

19. One can then conclude that the superiority in milkproduction is only hereditary for 25%. Expressed in decimals: h2 for milkproduction = 0.25

20. How to work with this? This breeding value is estimated by multiplying the performance exceeding the comparable average by the hereditary degree of that feature. The breeding value therefore indicates how much of the superiority is expected to be passed on to the offspring.

21. How to work with this? When a young heifer realises a milkproduction that is 500kg higher than the group average. The breeding value for milk (h2 for milk = 0.25) is estimated at: 0.25 × 500 = + 125kg /year.

22. How to work with this? When a young boar realises a growth that is 150 grams higher than the group average His breeding value for growth (h2 for growth = 0.30) is estimated at: 0.30 × 150 = + 45 grams/day.

23. How to work with this A hen realizes a egg production of 10 more eggs than the group average Her breeding value for eggproduction is estimated at? (h2 for eggproduction = 0.15) 0.15 × 10 = + 1,5 eggs/ year.

24. How to work with this? The estimated breeding value for growth of a broiler is +67,5 gram/day H2 for growth is 0,45 Which growth did this broiler realizes according to the group average?

25. Where is the rest? If the hereditary is 0.30, it means 30% is in the genes. But where is the other 70%?

26. How to get the best result with selection of animals ! h 2 x S Rj = -------- G Rj = selection result per year h 2 = heridity degree S = selection difference between average population and selected animal G = generation interval

27. How to get the best result with selection of animals ! (see page 131 chapter 7, R=0,3x(715–680):1= 0,3x35=10,5 so next generation 680+10,5=690,5)

28. Now testing theory with practice for the characteristic LENGTH in this class. 1) Measuring length of every student : Xn =.....cm 2) Calculating average length of the group : X =..…cm 3) Calculating (Xn – X ) 4) Calculating (Xn – X ) 2 5) Calculating Sum (Xn – X ) 2 6) Calculating Square Root ((Xn – X ) 2 : (N) ) =.....cm this is the standard deviation in the group 7) Draw the ghraphic as shown on page 104 chapter 7 !!! Be ware of the reliability and accuracy of the test !!!

29. Test Knowledge By Assignment Follow instruction 8 from the instruction book and make assignment 8A, 8C. Read/study/learn chapter 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.7 from the study book.