GenetIc evaluatIon for mIlk productIon traIts In slovakIan lacaune sheep

Selection for breeding animals as parents of next generation, based on genetic analyses of most important traits, became a standard for selection practices in most of the farm animal species in Slovakia. In this respect, about ten years of experience could be traced in Slovakian dairy cattle (Candrák et al., 1997) and pigs (Groeneveld and Peškovičová, 1999 and Peškovičová et. al., 1999). First estimates of genetic parameters and breeding values for beef cattle (Krupa et al., 2003 and 2006) and sheep (Oravcová et al., 2005a, 2005b and Margetín et al., 2006) were done a few years ago. Thus, the routine genetic evaluation for milk production traits (milk yield, fat and protein content) and litter size of purebred local populations of Tsigai, Improved Valachian and Merino GenetIc evaluatIon for mIlk productIon traIts In slovakIan lacaune sheep