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Genetic Evaluation of Dairy Goat Does for Milk and Fat as an Extension of Buck Evaluation¹

Institute of Animal Sciences, Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50250, Israel

G. R. Wiggans

Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20705

T. J. Lawlor, Jr.²

Department of Animal Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park 20742

ABSTRACT

The current procedure for calculating genetic evaluations of dairy goat bucks provides easily accessible information for constructing genetic evaluations for dairy goat does (doe indexes). Relationships among sires are accounted for by using the additive genetic relationship matrix among sires if the doe's sire was evaluated. The sire evaluation plus a portion of residual doe effect is the basis of doe evaluation. Although direct incorporation of maternal relationships among does may be accomplished, it requires extensive computations for large data sets. An approximate procedure based on selection index principles includes information from a doe's dam with only a modest increase in computing expense over that for genetic evaluations of bucks. Doe indexes were computed and adjusted to separate breed bases. Trend in doe indexes was positive for all breeds and ranged from .54 to 1.37 kg/yr for milk yield and from .021 to .052 kg/yr for fat yield.

¹ This research was sponsored in part by the US-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Fund, Project Number US-334-81, and in part by a cooperative agreement with the American Dairy Goat Association.

² Present address: Holstein Association, Brattleboro, VT 05301.