Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T11:16:54.769Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Temperament and its heritability in Corriedale and Merino lambs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2014

N. Zambra ,
D. Gimeno ,
D. Blache  and
E. van Lier
N. Zambra*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Producción Animal y Pasturas, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de la República, Av. E. Garzón 780, 12900, Montevideo, Uruguay
D. Gimeno
Affiliation:
Secretariado Uruguayo de la Lana, Rambla Baltasar Brum 3764, 11800, Montevideo, Uruguay
D. Blache
Affiliation:
UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
E. van Lier
Affiliation:
Departamento de Producción Animal y Pasturas, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de la República, Av. E. Garzón 780, 12900, Montevideo, Uruguay Estación Experimental Facultad de Agronomía Salto, Ruta 31 Km 21, 50000 Salto, Uruguay
*
†E-mail: noezambra@gmail.com
Get access

Abstract

Temperament can be defined as the fearfulness and reactivity of an animal in response to humans and strange, novel or threatening environments. The productive performance of an animal is affected by its temperament, and selection of calm animals might improve their adaptation to the farming environment and handling, as well as improve productivity. The temperament was measured in lambs of two breeds of sheep in Uruguay. The effects of dam’s age, type of birth, age of the lamb and contemporary group (CG; lambs belonging to the same year, flock, sex and rearing group) on the temperament of the lambs and the heritability of temperament were estimated with a Bayesian analysis using Gibbs sampling. Overall, 4962 Corriedale lambs and 2952 Merino lambs from 13 farms were tested. Temperament was measured using the isolation box test, isolating a lamb inside the box for 30 s, and recording the vibrations produced by its movements. The average temperament score (±s.e.m.) of the Corriedale lambs was 24.7 (±0.23) and that of the Merino was 36.8 (±0.45). Temperament was not associated with dam’s age, type of birth or lamb’s age. There were no relevant differences in the agitation score between lambs born in 2010 and 2011. The mean of the distribution of possible values of heritability (±s.d.) was 0.18 (±0.05) for the Corriedale and 0.31 (±0.06) for the Merino. The likelihood of heritability values to be greater than 0.15 exceeded 70% in the Corriedale and 90% in the Merino. The temperament of Merino and Corriedale sheep in Uruguay is moderately heritable. It is not related to dam’s age, type of birth or age of the lambs; however, it is affected by some aspect of the CG.

Keywords

sheep temperamentemotional reactivityGibb’s sampling
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 9 , Supplement 3 , March 2015 , pp. 373 - 379
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2014 

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

Bickell, S, Durmic, Z, Blache, D, Vercoe, PE and Martin, GB 2010. Rethinking the management of health and reproduction in small ruminants. In Updates on ruminant production and medicine (Proceedings of the 26th World Buiatrics Congress, 14–17 November 2010, Santiago, Chile) (ed. F Wittwer, R Chihuailaf, H Contreras, C Gallo, J Kruze, F Lanuza, C Letelier, G Monti and M Noro), pp. 317–325. Andros Impresores, Santiago, Chile.Google Scholar
Blache, D and Ferguson, D 2005a. Genetic estimates for temperament traits in sheep breeds (Final Report AHW.140), pp. 18. Meat & Livestock Australia Limited, Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Blache, D and Ferguson, D 2005b. Increasing sheep meat production efficiency and animal welfare by selection for temperament (Final Report SHGEN.025), pp. 23–59. Meat & Livestock Australia Limited, Sydney, Australia.Google Scholar
Blache, D, Hart, K, Chadwick, A, Sèbe, F, de St Torre, T, Poindrón, P, Nowak, R and Fergusson, D 2006. Interaction between temperament and reproductive performance. In Reproduction in domestic ruminants VI (ed. JL Juengel, JF Murray and MF Smith), pp. 525. Nottingham University Press, Nottingham, UK.Google Scholar
Blasco, A 2001. The Bayesian controversy in animal breeding. Journal of Animal Science 79, 2023–2046.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blasco, A 2005. The use of Bayesian statistics in meat quality analyses: a review. Meat Science 69, 115–122.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boissy, A, Fisher, AD, Bouix, J, Hinch, GN and Le Neindre, P 2005. Genetics of fear in ruminant livestock. Livestock Production Science 93, 23–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burnham, K and Anderson, D 2002. Information theory and log-likelihood models: a basis for model selection and inference. In Model selection and inference: a practical information-theoretic approach (ed. K Burnham and D Anderson), pp. 32–72. Springer, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Burrow, HM 2001. Variances and covariances between productive and adaptive traits and temperament in a composite breed of tropical beef cattle. Livestock Production Science 70, 213–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burrow, H, Seifert, G and Corbet, N 1988. A new technique for measuring temperament in cattle. Proceedings of the Australian Society of Animal Production 17, 154–157.Google Scholar
Cardellino, R and Rovira, J 1989. Heredabilidad. In Mejoramiento genético animal (ed. R Cardelino and J Rovira), pp. 111–151. Hemisferio Sur, Montevideo, Uruguay.Google Scholar
Del Campo, M 2011. Temperamento-bienestar animal-calidad de producto. Revista INIA 24, 11–17.Google Scholar
Del Campo, M, Brito, G, Soares de Lima, J, Hernández, P, Montossi, F 2010. Finishing diet, temperament and lairage time effects on carcass and meat quality traits in steers. Meat Science 86, 908–914.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dodd, CL, Hocking Edwards, JE, Hazel, SJ and Pitchford, WS 2014. Flight speed and agitation in weaned lambs: genetic and non-genetic effects and relationships with carcass quality. Livestock Science 160, 12–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dwyer, CM 2008. Environment and the sheep. Breed adaptations and welfare implications. In The welfare of sheep (ed. CM Dwyer), pp. 41–79. Springer, Edinburgh, UK.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Genética Ovina 2013. Evaluaciones genéticas ovinas. Retrieved May 10, 2013, from http://www.geneticaovina.com.uy/index.php Google Scholar
Geweke, J 1992. Evaluating the accuracy of sampling-based approaches to the calculation of posterior moments (with discussion). In Bayesian statistics (ed. JM Bernardo, JO Berger, AP Dawid and AF Smith), pp. 169–193. Oxford University Press, UK.Google Scholar
Goddard, PJ 2008. The management of sheep. In The welfare of sheep (ed. CM Dwyer), pp. 291–323. Springer, Edinburgh, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodnight, JH and Harvey, WR 1997. Least square means in the fixed effect general model (SAS. Technical Report R-103). SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC.Google Scholar
Grandin, T 1998. Review: reducing handling stress improves both productivity and welfare. The Professional Animal Scientist 14, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, K, Contou, C and Blackberry, M 2009. Merino ewes divergently selected for calm temperament have a greater concentration of immunoglobulin G in their colostrum than nervous ewes. Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics 18, 576–579.Google Scholar
Hart, K, Van Lier, E, Viñoles, C, Paganoni, B and Blache, D 2008. Calm Merino ewes have more multiple pregnancies than nervous Merino ewes due to higher ovulation rate. Reproduction in Domestic Animals 43, 88.Google Scholar
Hart, K, Chadwick, A, Sèbe, F, Poindrón, P, Nowak, R and Blache, D 2006. Colostrum quality of ewes of calm temperament this not responsible for low lamb mortality. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 46, 827–829.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holl, J, Rohrer, G and Brown-Brandl, T 2010. Estimates of genetic parameters among scale activity scores, growth, and fatness in pigs. Journal of Animal Science 88, 455–459.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoppe, S, Brandt, H, König, S, Erhardt, G and Gauly, M 2010. Temperament traits of beef calves measured under field conditions and their relationships to performance. Journal of Animal Science 88, 1982–1989.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ivanov, I, Djorbineva, M, Sotirov, L and Tanchev, S 2005. Influence of fearfulness on lysozyme and complement concentrations in dairy sheep. Revue de Médicine Vétérinaire 156, 8–9.Google Scholar
Kadel, MJ, Johnston, DJ, Burrow, HM, Graser, HU, Ferguson, DM 2006. Genetics of flight time and other measures of temperament and their value as selection criteria for improving meat quality traits in tropically adapted breeds of beef cattle. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 57, 1029–1035.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Le Neindre, P, Trillat, G, Sapa, J, Ménissier, F, Bonnet, JN and Chupin, M 1995. Individual differences in docility in Limousin cattle. Journal of Animal Science 73, 2249–2253.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Misztal, I, Tsuruta, S, Strabel, T, Auvray, B, Druet, T and Lee, DH 2002. BLUPF90 and related programs (BGF90). Proceedings of the 7th World Congress for the Genetic of Applied Livestock Production, 19–23 August 2003, Montpellier, France, CD-ROM.Google Scholar
Murphy, PM 1999. Maternal behaviour and rearing ability of merino ewes can be improved by strategic feed supplementation during late pregnancy and selection for calm temperament. Thesis PhD, University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.Google Scholar
Oki, H, Kusunose, R, Nakaoka, H, Nishiura, A, Miyake, T and Sasaki, Y 2007. Estimation of heritability and genetic correlation for behavioural responses by Gibbs sampling in the thoroughbred racehorse. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics 124, 185–191.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plush, K, Hebart, M, Brien, F and Hynd, P 2011. The genetics of temperament in Merino sheep and relationships with lamb survival. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 134, 130–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reverter, A, Johnston, DJ, Ferguson, DM, Perry, D, Goddard, ME, Burrow, HM, Oddy, VH, Thompson, JM and Bindon, BM 2003. Genetic and phenotypic characterisation of animal, carcass, and meat quality traits from temperate and tropically adapted beef breeds. Correlations among animal, carcass, and meat quality traits. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 54, 149–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simm, G, Conington, J, Bishop, SC, Dwyer, CM and Pattinson, S 1996. Genetic selection for extensive conditions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 49, 47–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, B 2005. Bayesian output analysis program (BOA), version 1.1.5. The University of Iowa, USA.Google Scholar
Sorensen, D and Gianola, D 2002. Gaussian and thick-tailed linear models. In Likelihood, Bayesian, and MCMC methods in quantitative genetics (ed. D Sorensen and D Gianola), pp. 561–604. Springer, New York, USA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strutt, J 2002. Feeding behaviour of sheep of different temperaments in a simulated feedlot. Thesis BSc, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.Google Scholar
Turner, SP, Gibbons, JM and Haskell, MJ 2011. Developing and validating measures of temperament in livestock. In From genes to animal behavior: social structures, personalities, communication by color (ed. M Inoue-Murayama, S Kawamura and A Weiss), pp. 201–224. Springer, Tokyo, Japan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Zambra Supplementary Material

Table S1

Download Zambra Supplementary Material(File)
File 20.2 KB
Supplementary material: File

Zambra Supplementary Material

Table S2

Download Zambra Supplementary Material(File)
File 20.1 KB