Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T10:47:42.570Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Breed structure in the pedigree Ayrshire cattle population in Great Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

G. Wiener
Affiliation:
Animal Breeding Research Organization, Edinburgh

Extract

Ayrshire Cattle Herd Books for the years 1927, 1946 and 1947 were examined to study the breed structure. Extended pedigrees of a sample of registered females showed that more than half their genes had come from eight herds. Most of the genetic contribution of these herds comes through the bulls they breed.

Herds were divided into: breeders' herds (a), breeders' herds (b), multipliers' herds (i), multipliers' herds (ii), and herds registering males only. The function and numerical importance of each group is shown. The position of any one herd in the breed hierarchy is unstable. Changes in the extent of specialization of herd function between 1927 and 1946 are described.

The Ayrshire breed structure is discussed in the light of its implications on the effective size (N) of the population and on the selection of bulls for breeding.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1953

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Donald, H. P., Deas, D. W. & Wilson, A. L. (1952) Brit. Vet. J. 108, 227–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fowler, A. B. (1932). J. Dairy Res., 4, 1127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lush, J. L. (1945). Animal Breeding Plans. Iowa State College Press.Google Scholar
Lush, J. L. (1946). Amer. Nat. 80, 318–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahadevan, P. (1951). Emp. J. Exp. Agric. 19, 291–4.Google Scholar
Rendel, J. M. & Robertson, A. (1950). J. Genet. 50, 18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, A. & Rendel, J. M. (1950). J. Genet. 50, 2131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robertson, A. & Asker, A. A. (1951). Emp. J. Exp. Agric. 19, 113–30.Google Scholar
Wiener, G. & Yao, T. S. (1952). Emp. J. Exp. Agric. (in the Press).Google Scholar
Wright, S. (1931). Genetics, 16, 97159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, S. (1940). Amer. Nat. 72, 232–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar