Data from a multibreed composite beef cattle population, managed under intensive irrigated grazing conditions, were used to estimate direct additive heritabilities (ha), maternal heritabilities (h 2 m) and maternal permanent environmental effects (c) for birth weight (BW) and weaning weight (WW) of the calf and cow efficiency of the dam (CE: WW/dam weight x 100). Calves born between 1968 and 19...

The expression of most developmental or behavioral traits involves complex interactions between quantitative trait loci (QTL) from the maternal and offspring genomes. The maternal-offspring interactions play a pivotal role in shaping the direction and rate of evolution in terms of their substantial contribution to quantitative genetic (co)variation. To study the genetics and evolution of matern...

This study was conducted to estimate the genetic parameters of litter size (LS) in Moghani sheep using threshold model via Bayesian approach. The data originated from the Jafar-Abad Station of Ardabil province, Iran, and included 9698 lactation records of 4977 ewes with lambings from 1995 until 2010. The pedigree file consisted of data on animals born from 1987 to 2010. The significance of fixe...

Records for birth and subsequent, monthly weights until weaning on beef calves of two breeds in a selection experiment were analysed fitting random regression models. Independent variables were orthogonal (Legendre) polynomials of age at weighing in days, and orders of polynomial fit up to 10 were considered. Analyses were carried out on a phenotypic and genetic scale, fitting sets of random re...

Weaning weights of calves of dams at ages in years of 2, 3, and older were modeled to be three separate traits. Fixed effects were sex of calf-year of birth combinations for nine pure breeds and sex of calf-year of birth-generation for three composite populations. Random effects fitted for each trait were correlated direct and maternal genetic, maternal permanent environmental, and temporary en...

Data from the slaughter of 24,001 chickens that were part of a selection program for the production of commercial broilers were used to estimate genetic trend for absolute carcass (CW), breast meat (BRW), and leg (LW) weights, and relative carcass (CY), breast meat (BRY), and leg (LY) weights. The components of (co)variance and breeding values of individuals were obtained by the restricted maxi...

Different methods for genomic evaluation were compared for accuracy and feasibility of evaluation using phenotypic, pedigree, and genomic information for a trait influenced by a maternal effect. A simulated population was constructed that included 15,800 animals in 5 generations. Genotypes from 45,000 SNP were available for 1,500 animals in the last 3 generations. Genotyped animals in the last ...