Clinical tail-biters were identified over a 12-month period at a commercial nucleus pig-breeding farm that had a history of
tail-biting problems. The breed, gender, and relative size of the tail-biters were recorded. Using pedigree data for all the pigs on
the farm at the time of observations, the heritability of the tail-biting behaviour was estimated for purebred Large White (LW)
and Landrace (LR) pigs. The incidence of tail-biting was 2.8% for Large White and 3.5% for Landrace (breed effects, Pb0.10).
Tail-biting was found to be heritable in Landrace (h2=0.05F0.02, Pb0.05 as a 0–1 trait, equivalent to h2=0.27 as a continuous
trait), but not heritable in Large White pigs (h2=0.00F0.00, as a 0–1 trait). In the Landrace population, tail-biting was
unfavourably genetically correlated with leanness [lean tissue growth rate (LTGR; rg=0.27, Pb0.05), and back fat (BF)
thickness at 90 kg (rg=0.28, Pb0.05)]. It is concluded that past selection for desirable production traits may have resulted in
increased predisposition to exhibit tail-biting behaviour. From the correlations and covariance matrix reported, it would be
possible to develop a selection index to reduce the predisposition to exhibit tail-biting behaviour through selective breeding.
Clinical tail-biters were identified over a 12-month period at a commercial nucleus pig-breeding farm that had a history of
tail-biting problems. The breed, gender, and relative size of the tail-biters were recorded. Using pedigree data for all the pigs on
the farm at the time of observations, the heritability of the tail-biting behaviour was estimated for purebred Large White (LW)
and Landrace (LR) pigs. The incidence of tail-biting was 2.8% for Large White and 3.5% for Landrace (breed effects, Pb0.10).
Tail-biting was found to be heritable in Landrace (h2=0.05F0.02, Pb0.05 as a 0–1 trait, equivalent to h2=0.27 as a continuous
trait), but not heritable in Large White pigs (h2=0.00F0.00, as a 0–1 trait). In the Landrace population, tail-biting was
unfavourably genetically correlated with leanness [lean tissue growth rate (LTGR; rg=0.27, Pb0.05), and back fat (BF)
thickness at 90 kg (rg=0.28, Pb0.05)]. It is concluded that past selection for desirable production traits may have resulted in
increased predisposition to exhibit tail-biting behaviour. From the correlations and covariance matrix reported, it would be
possible to develop a selection index to reduce the predisposition to exhibit tail-biting behaviour through selective breeding.
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