Coat color alterations over the years and their association with growth performances in the Menz sheep central nucleus a
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Coat color alterations over the years and their association with growth performances in the Menz sheep central nucleus and community-based breeding programs Tesfaye Getachew 1
&
Ayele Abebe 2 & Solomon Gizaw 3 & Barbara Rischkowsky 1 & Asfaw Bisrat 2 & Aynalem Haile 1
Received: 7 November 2019 / Accepted: 1 June 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract In the traditional Menz sheep breeding, communities select against black coat color and therefore its frequency is declining over time. We hypothesize that this exercise is causing the loss of an important gene pool. Data collected from on-station Menz sheep nucleus (n = 1992) and community-based breeding program (CBBP) (n = 5578) were analyzed to (1) assess color proportion dynamics over years and (2) associate phenotypic performances and estimated breeding values (EBVs) for growth traits with coat color of the animals. The on-station nucleus considered growth trait as selection criteria, while CBBP focused on a combination of growth and morphological characters. The results showed that the proportion of black coat color increased across years in the on-station nucleus flock (2.1% per year). However, in the CBBP, flocks’ proportion of black coat color declined over time (1.03– 1.05% per year). Birth and growth traits of black-colored sheep were consistently superior (P < 0.05) to white-colored sheep. Mean yearling weight and EBV of black rams used in the on-station flock was 24.3 kg and 3.7 kg, respectively, while the values for white-colored sheep were 19.7 kg and 1.6 kg, respectively. This variation in growth performances of Menz sheep among different colors may be due to the linkage between color and growth performance genes. Thus, selection against black coat color in the CBBPs seems to have an adverse effect on the genetic progress of growth traits in the Menz sheep. Understanding the core reasons behind the prevailing selection against black coat color and devising measures to address them should be considered. Developing a black line targeting specific markets might also be worthy to maximize production as well as maintain qualities associated with black color. Keywords Selection against black . Coat color . Farmer’s criteria . Ethiopia
Introduction Animal genetic diversity is critical for food security, and it allows farmers to select stock or develop new breeds in response to unpredictable changing conditions such as climate change, emerging disease threats, human nutritional changes, and changing market or societal needs. Adaptation in the broad sense includes any means by which animals
* Tesfaye Getachew [email protected] 1
International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
2
Debre Berhan Agricultural Research Center, Debre Berhan, Ethiopia
3
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
successfully confront a perturbation such as climate and environmental changes (Running and Mills, 2009). Animals with some features adapt spectacularly in each envir
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