Herdbook analyses of the Asturiana beef cattle breeds

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Herdbook analyses of the Asturiana beef cattle breeds

J Cañón, Jp Gutiérrez, S Dunner, F Goyache, M Vallejo

To cite this version:

Original

article

Herdbook

_analyses

of the Asturiana

beef

cattle breeds

J Cañón

JP Gutiérrez

S

Dunner

F

_Goyache

_{2 M Vallejo}

1 Facultad

de Veterinaria,

De,vartamento

de Produccion

Animal,

280!0

Madrid;

2

Centro

de Seleccidn Animal

_(CENSA),

Secci6n de

_{Genetica, Somi6, Asturias, Spain}

(Received

16 March 1993;

accepted

12 October

₁₉₉₃₎

Summary - Data from 2 Asturiana breeds’ herdbooks were

_analysed

to

_study

their

_genetic

structure. Herds were

_assigned

to 3 levels

by

the use of herd sires. Generation intervals

averaged

5.3

_(Casina)

and 5.4

_(Carreiiana)

yr, and for both breeds sires were

significantly

younger than dams. Determination of the important herds shows the contribution of Caso county

(60%)

to the total herd appearance of the Casina breed. The overall mean

Wright’s inbreeding

coefficients were 1.2 and 0.2% and the increases

_{of inbreeding}

level _per

generation

were 0.7 and 0.24% for Casina and

_{Carrenana, respectively.}

Those low values of

inbreeding

increase can be

partially explained by

a

_relatively

low centralization

reflecting

a

_{high degree}

of

diversity.

pedigree

/

herdbook

_/

population structure _/ beef cattle

Résumé - _Analyses des livres _{généalogiques} des races bovines, asturiennes à viande.

L’information

des livres

_{généalogiques}

de 2 races asturiennes a été

_analysée

pour connaître leur structure

_génétique.

Une division des troupeaux en

_{3 groupes}

est réalisée en

_fonction

de l’utilisation des taureaux. Les intervalles entre

_{générations}

s’élèvent à 5,3 ans chez la race Casina et 5,4 ans chez la Carrenana et dans les 2 cas les mâles en service sont

plus

jeunes que les

femelles.

La détermination des troupeaux les _{plus importants} montre la

contribution de la

région

du Caso

_(60%)

à l’ensemble des troupeaux apparaissant en race Casina. Le

_coefficient

de

consanguinité

moyen total de

Wright

est de

0,7%

pour la Casina

et de

0,24%

pour la Carrefiana. Les taux très bas

d’augmentation

de la

consanguinité

peuvent en _partie

s’expliquer

_par une centralisation relativement

_faible,

_qui

_reflète

une

grande

diversité.

INTRODUCTION

Asturiana de los Valles

_(Carrenana

or Asturiana

_occidental)

and Asturiana de la Montafia

_(Casina

or Asturiana

oriental)

(Mason, 1988)

are 2 local beef cattle breeds located

_mainly

in Asturias

_(Spain).

The Cantabric branch is the common

_origin

of both breeds which are _very similar to the French Parthenais and Tarentais breeds. Animal sizes are

_quite

different for both breeds. For

_instance,

the mature

_weight

of Casina cows is 350-400

kg

while the mature

_weight

of Carrefiana cows is 550-600

kg.

The Casina breed is distributed in the eastern

_Asturias,

around the National Park of

_Covadonga.

The Caso’s Breeders

_Society

started in 1910 and in 1929 selection within Casina

_populations

was

_{organized by establishing}

the herdbook and the

milking recording

scheme. Production of milk to transform into cheese was the

objective

for this breed and no more than 5 000 cows were included in the

_recording

scheme. These activities

stopped

in 1936 because of the civil war. In the 1940s the

introduction of the

_imported

Brown Swiss breed

began causing

a

_strong

recession in

_population

size. In 1978 the herdbook was refounded

_by

the Breeder Association

(ASEAMO)

including

at

_present

136 breeders and 2 831 animals. The use of AI is

marginal,

less than

2%

of the

_matings.

Even

_though

Carrefiana is distributed in the central and western

_part

of

Asturias,

genetically

important

herds also exist outside the

_region

_(Pais

_{Vasco, Castilla-Le6n,}

Castilla-La

Mancha,

Cantabria and

_{Extremadura).}

At the

_begining

of this

_century

the

_population

size was around 100 000 animals but introduction of Friesians after the 1920s and Brown Swiss in the 1940s reduced the census to 40 000

_by

the end of the 1970s. At

_present,

the

_population

size is around 56 000 and 15 000 animals are

registered

in the herdbook created in

_1976;

the Breeder Association

(ASEAVA)

includes about 1 200 breeders

_grouped

across 13

_performance

_recording

nucleus. Their

_{breeding objective}

is

_post-weaning

_{growth efficiency}

while

_maintaining

_calving

difficulty

incidence at a constant level. AI within the breed is

_increasing

and is around

20%.

Most of the semen doses demand

(2.5

x

5

10

to 3.0 x

10

5

)

comes from Holstein farmers to increase the added value of calves.

An

_important

characteristic of these breeds is the lean carcass

they produce,

with lower fat

_percentage

than most of the

_European

beef cattle breeds

_(Vallejo

et

al, 1992).

However,

although

25 cattle breeds are

officially

recognized

in

Spain

(Mapa

1981),

herdbook studies for

_only

2 cattle breeds have been carried out: Avilena

(Vasallo

et

_al,

₁₉₈₆₎

and Pirenaica

_(Altarriba

and Ocariz

_1987).

The

_objective

of this work was to use data from the Asturiana Societies’ herdbooks to determine the structure and

_organization

of these breeds.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Evolution of the herds and animals

_registered

in the herdbooks and distribution of herd size are shown in tables I and

_II,

and in

figure

1.

males and 777

_parent

females. A total of 15 500 animals of the Carrenana breed were distributed across 1200

herds,

from which 913 were

_parent

males and 4 090

_parent

females. This information was used to

_compute

the

following

items:

genetically

important herds;

effective number of

_{herds; generation}

_length;

and

_inbreeding

and

relationships.

The structure of the

_population

can be observed

_{by describing}

the use of herd sires. The herds can be classified into:

a)

nucleus

herds;

b)

multiplier

herds;

and

c)

commercial herds. Tables III and IV were built

considering only

herds with at least 6

_registered

animals

_following

the classification

_given

_by

Vasallo et al

_(1986),

where herds are classified

_according

to the

_degree

of confidence of the breeders in their own

genetics.

According

to these

authors,

breeders of nucleus herds never

_purchase

bulls,

but

_they

sell

bulls;

breeders of

_multiplier

herds use

_purchased

bulls and also sell

bulls to other

_multipliers

or commercial

herds;

and breeders of commercial herds never sell bulls. This _way of

_classifying

herds is

_conceptually

different from what

Stewart

₍₁₉₅₂

and

₁₉₅₅₎

and Barker

₍₁₉₅₇₎

_describe,

in which movement of bulls within the nucleus is

possible

and in which there is no

exchange

of bulls between

multiplier

herds.

The structure of the

_population

has also been

_analysed

_using

Robertson’s

method

₍₁₉₅₃₎

for

_determining

the effective number of herds

_supplying

sires,

grand

supplying

sires,

grand

sires and

_great-grand

sires which

_gives

some information on the concentration of

_origins.

Genetically

important

herds were

_{analysed by}

the 3 methods

_{proposed by}

Barker

(1957): 1)

total appearances as

males;

2)

_appearances of each herd in the sire-of-sire

line;

and

₃₎

total score of males appearances: an _{appearance in} the

_parental

generation

scored

_4,

an _{appearance in} the

grandparental

_generation

scored

_2,

and an _{appearance in} the

_{great-grandparental}

scored 1. The

_original

method

_proposed

by

Wiener

₍₁₉₅₃₎

to

_analyse

breed structure was also used. In order to

_apply

this

method,

the

_description

_given

_by

Barker

₍₁₉₅₇₎

was followed.

Generation

_length

was

computed

for the 4

pathways

(sire-son,

_{sire-daughter,}

dam-son and

_{dam-daughter)}

_using

birth dates of

_registered

animals

_together

with

those of their sires and dams.

Wright’s inbreeding

coefficients for all

registered

bulls and cows were estimated

using

a modified

Quaas’

_computing

_strategy

(Gutierrez

et

_{al 1990)}

and an _average coefficient of

_relationship

between bulls in each

_population

was

computed.

The

known

_generations

number

_represents

the maximum number of

_generations

known

and is obtained

_{by looking}

for the furthest known ancestor. The amount of available

pedigree

information is described for the 2 breeds in table V.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Casina breed

Four herds were

_assigned

to the nucleus

level,

22 herds to

_multipliers

and 19 herds were

assigned

to the commercial level

_{(table III).}

Of the bulls

_purchased

by

the

breeders of

_multiplier

herds

35%

comes from what we call nucleus herds and

65%

comes from other

_multiplier

herds. Of bulls

_{purchased by}

breeders of commercial

herds,

17%

come from nucleus herds and

83%

come from

_multiplier

herds.

_Although

there is a low number of herds considered at the

_top

of the

_structure,

the estimates of the effective number of herds

_supplying

_sires,

_grand

sires and

_great-grand

sires indicate that a

relatively large

number of herds contribute with

grand

sires and

great-grand

sires. Two animals taken at random from the

_pedigree

book have a

similar

_probability

of

_having

their

_great-grand

sires from the same herd if these

diversity

of

_origins

for the

_reproductive

animals is also confirmed

_by

_comparing

the actual and effective number of herds

_{(table VI).}

Herds in the Caso

_county

have contributed to more than

60%

of the total _appearances. This

_highlights

the

importance

of this

_county

in which the

_origin

of this breed is believed to be

(table VII).

The rank of

_important

herds does not

_{significantly change}

between the 3 different methods of Barker. The values of rank correlation are

_greater

than

0.90

_(p

<

_0.01).

_Dividing

the whole

_period

of time in 3

parts

(<

1983,

1983-1987

and >

₁₉₈₇₎

and

_using

method

_2,

which can be considered as the most

_precise

(the

total number of _appearances, method

1,

can

_depend

on a

_previous

_appearance of that herd in the same

_pedigree),

the value of rank correlation between

_periods

of time is 0.94

_(p

<

_0.01)

_showing

that the

_importance

of the herds is

unchanged

with time. This can also be confirmed

_using

a variant

proposed by

Wiener

(1953).

This method

_gives

the evolution of the

_importance

of a herd in terms of

_change

in

genetic

contribution per

generation

and

_represents

the contribution of a herd based on the number of _appearances of this

_herd,

_{independently}

of an earlier

_{chronological}

appearance

(table VIII).

The

genetic

contribution of the 6

_major

herds to

_registered

females is

47.5%

and the relative order is

_quite

similar to that reflected in table VII.

Generation

_intervals,

which

_averaged

5.3 yr, are

_{significantly higher}

(50%)

for dams

_(6.35)

than for sires

_(4.19),

and sires of males

_{(or females)}

are _younger than their mates

_{(table IX).}

It seems evident that the use of sires to breed bulls is

performed

before _{any progeny} information is available. This could be a

_sign

that

information. Similar

_generation

interval differences are found for the Avilefia breed in

_Spain

_(Vasallo

et

_al,

₁₉₈₆₎

and for other breeds such as the Shorthorn in Australia

(Herron

and

Pattie,

1977)

or the Hereford in UK

(Özkütük

and

Bichard,

1977)

and very similar values have been

published

for Poll Hereford in Australia

(Herron

1978;

Toll and Barker

_1979).

The overall mean

_{Wright’s inbreeding}

coefficient was

1.2%

_and,

when

_only

animals with at least 3

_pedigree

_{generations registered}

are

considered,

the level of

_{inbreeding averaged}

2.5%.

_Although

the Casina breed was

1.7%

more inbred in 1991 than it was in

_1978,

which supposes an increase of

0.7%

_per

_generation,

the

inbreeding

level does not increase

_{significantly}

_during

the last _{9 yr}

_{(1.7 generations),}

whereas the number of

_pedigree

_generation

does

_{(table X).}

_{The average} coefficient

of

relationship

between bulls was 0.8 x

10-

2

.

Conservation efforts must be

applied

to this breed as the real

population

size is closer to 1400 females than to the number of 7 568

_given

by

the MAPA

_(1989).

The number of 1 400 can be obtained

by considering

that the _average annual

_registration

of females for Casina was 143 for the last 4 _yr, and that all females

_coming

from

pure mates are

_registered,

and

_{by assuming}

a

_replacement

index of

10%.

Carrenana breed

The number of herds considered as nuclei were

_8;

136 herds can be considered as

multipliers

as their breeders

_purchase

and sell bulls to other

_herds;

and 47 herds could be considered as commercial since their breeders do not distribute bulls out

of their own herd

(table IV).

Five _per cent of the bulls

_purchased

_by

breeders of

herds come from nucleus herds while breeders of commercial herds

_{only buy}

bulls from

_multiplier

herds. The low

_percentage

of bulls

_purchased

into nucleus herds is a

consequence of the

relatively

low size of those herds with an _average of 12 animals

registered.

The numerical

description

of the breed structure

_given

in table VI shows the

between breeders. This can also be

_{argued by}

_comparing

the number of herds

supplying

sires

_(grand

sires or

_great-grand

_sires)

with the effective number of herds

supplying

sires

_(grand

sires or

_great-grand

sires).

Results for

_genetically

_important

herds also reflect this

_diversity.

_Geographic

_dispersion

of the most

_important

herds is difficult to

_{justify by looking}

at the current

_knowledge

on the

_genetic

herd levels. The average

generation

length

was 5.4 _yr and

_generation

lengths

for the 4

path-ways of the

parent-offspring

are shown in table IX.

The _ages of the sires at the birth of

_offspring

were

_{significantly}

(p

<

_0.05)

lower

than the ages of

dams,

4.9 vs 5.9. The _ages of sires varied among birth _years of progeny and the

analysis

showed a trend towards the use of older animals

(b

=

0.08)

since 1975.

_Although

this is a smooth

trend,

it seems evident

that,

as

before,

the use of sires to breed bulls or cows is made before _{any progeny} information is available. Different

_(p

<

_0.05)

herd

_practices

in

_selecting

sires were found since the _age of sires also varies between herds in which progeny were born. Similar

_{figures apply}

for dams. The _ages of dams varied between _years of birth of _progeny and herds.

The overall mean

_inbreeding

coefficient was

0.2%.

When

_{including only}

animals with more than 2

_pedigree

_generations

known,

the average was

0.7%.

The increase

of

_inbreeding

per

generation

was

0.24%,

this value

being

significantly

different from 0

_{(table X)}

and the average coefficient of

relationship

between bulls was 0.5 x

10-’.

These results show that a strict control on the

_{relationships}

between the animals

to be mated is not _{very necessary.}

It can be concluded that most of the

_parameters

estimated are

_typical

in

developing

breeds. The results show that if any selection has been

practiced,

it was based on

_type

and/or

pedigree

information,

and that from the

_generation

length

observed

_(>

5

_yr)

rather low

_genetic

progress within each breed can be

_expected

to

be observed at

_present.

Genetic evaluation for economic traits

_began

_{2 yr ago} and

preliminary

estimates of

_genetic

_variability

for the most

_important

characters

_(birth,

weaning

and

_yearling

_weights)

show

_high

values,

which could be a _consequence, as

stated

_earlier,

of the lack of

_previous

selection.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This work was

_{partially supported by}

a _grant from the

CICYT,

no AGF92-0852 and from

ASEAVA. We also would like to thank one of the referees for his comments which led to

an

improved

_{presentation.}

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