Estimation of Genetic Parameters for Direct and Maternal Effects in Growth Traits of Sangsari Sheep Using Gibbs Sampling

Introduction Small ruminants, especially native breed types, play an important role in livelihoods of a considerable part of human population in the tropics from socio-economic aspects. Therefore, integrated attempt in terms of management and genetic improvement to enhance production is of crucial importance. Knowledge of genetic variation and co-variation among traits is required for both the design of effective sheep breeding programs and the accurate prediction of genetic progress from these programs. Body weight and growth traits are one of the economically important traits in sheep production, especially in Iran where lamb sale is the main source of income for sheep breeders while other products are in secondary importance. Although mutton is the most important source of protein in Iran, meat production from the sheep does not cover the increasing consumer demand. On the other hand, increase in sheep number to increase meat production has been limited by low quality and quantity of forage range. Therefore, enhancing meat production should be achieved by selecting the animals that have maximum genetic merit as next generation parents. To design an efficient improvement program and genetic evaluation system for maximization response to selection for economically important traits, accurate estimates of the genetic parameters and the genetic relationships between the traits are necessary. Studies of various sheep breeds have shown that both direct and maternal genetic influences are of importance for lamb growth. When growth traits are included in the breeding goal, both direct and maternal genetic effects should be taken into account in order to achieve optimum genetic progress. The objective of this study was to estimate the variance components and heritability, for growth traits, by fitting six animal models in the Sangsari sheep using Gibbs sampling. Material and Method Sangsari is a fat-tailed and relatively small sized breed of sheep, native and well adapted to Semnan province. The data set and pedigree information used in this study, recorded during 1986–2008, were obtained from the breeding station of Sangsari sheep (in Damghan, Semnan Province, Iran). The data included 9707 records for birth weight (BW), 8524 records for weaning weight (WW) and 3894 records for six months weight (6MW). Records were prepared for analysis using EXCEL 97 software. During the preparation process, abnormal data were removed. The pedigree and data files were prepared using pedigree software. Firstly, the GLM procedure (SAS, 2002) was used for determining the fixed effects that had significant effect on the traits investigated (