Generating estimated breeding values for postnatal lamb survival – phase II

Results:

Genetic parameters for lamb survival were produced and now await implementation.

The Problem:

To determine if data already held by Signet Breeding Services can be used to identify genetic differences between breeding lines for lamb survival.

Project Aims & Objectives:

• To identify an approach through which survival can be deduced
• To determine if genetic differences between different breeding lines exist
• To identify if existing datasets are suitable for this type of analysis
• Work out the heritability of this trait in three datasets

Approach:

Extract data from BASCO for Texel, Dorset and Lleyn sheep and analyse in an approach already used and documented in the analysis of Scottish Blackface data.