WP Leader: SRUC (Georgios Banos) INIA, AUTH, UNIVPM, CSIC, AHDB Genetic solutions WP Leader: SRUC (Georgios Banos) INIA, AUTH, UNIVPM, CSIC, AHDB 29/8/2017 EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking

EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking Aim – sheep & goats Develop breeding strategies and tools enhance animal welfare, resilience and adaptability to future climatic, environmental and socio-economic challenges, improve the sector’s sustainability and profitability. 29/8/2017 EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking

Aim – characterise resilience traits Lamb survival Aspects of ewe fertility Age at 1st lambing Lambing interval Ewe longevity Dairy goat longevity

Lamb Survival – mining existing data Binary trait (0/1) ‘Direct’ trait of the lamb (not the ewe) Recorded in both sexes Dead = 0 Born dead and lambs born alive but no subsequent live weights Alive = 1 Lambs with a live weight Birth Mid-lactation ~ 8 weeks old Weaning ~ 20 weeks old 3

Data –lamb survival National data from performance recorded flocks Dorset – 15,433 records Lleyn – 51,174 records Texel – 48,995 records Scottish Blackface – 173,895 records 4

Heritability Estimates (direct lamb) 8

Key messages Males have higher mortality vs females Intermediate optimum birthweight Intermediate dam age Lamb survival has low heritability (<10%) Coefficient of variation (~33-39%) Worthwhile selecting for lamb survival Cv% (sd/mean)x 100

Lamb survival - impact 2017 implemented in UK breeding programmes for 2 sheep breeds by AHDB / SRUC

Longevity and fertility - sheep -Lambing interval , LI -Age at 1st lambing, AFL

National data used Dorset n= 15.3K – 73.7K Texel n= 24.2K – 63.5K Lleyn n= 14K – 42.5K Different breeds and management systems 133 Texel flocks

National data used Dorset n= 15.3K – 73.7K Texel n= 24.2K – 63.5K Lleyn n= 14K – 42.5K Different breeds and management systems 160 Lleyn flocks

National data used Dorset n= 15.3K – 73.7K Texel n= 24.2K – 63.5K Lleyn n= 14K – 42.5K Different breeds and management systems 51 Dorset flocks

Trait definitions Longevity Lambing interval Age @1st lambing Age at last recorded lambing (in years) Lambing interval Number of days between the ewes first and second lambing event Age @1st lambing Age of the ewe at her first recorded lambing event (in years)

% Heritability Lleyn Dorset Texel Longevity 7 11 1 Lambing interval 1-2 12 2

% Heritability Lleyn Dorset Texel Age @ 1st lamb 31 16

Relationships between traits? Correlations: Longevity and age @ 1st lambing Implications ? Ewe lambs leave the flock earlier Dorset Lleyn Genetic 0.8 0.3 Phenotypic 0.7 0.2

Relationships between traits? Longevity and litter size Implications? Higher litter size in Dorsets leads to shorter lifespan (Not the case for Lleyn) Dorset Genetic -0.4 (0.09) Phenotypic -0.2 (0.01)

Relationships between traits? Longevity and lambing interval Implications? Less productive ewes last longer Dorset Lleyn Genetic 0.6 (0.08) 0.7 (0.07) Phenotypic 0.6 0.65

Key messages Breed differences in genetic variation Lambing ewe lambs leads to shorter lifespan Higher litter size in Dorsets leads to shorter lifespan Less productive ewes last longer Cv% (sd/mean)x 100

Implementing Lambing interval EBV

Longevity definition – dairy goats Different definitions Age at death Actual Predicted Completed lactations 29/8/2017 EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking

Predicted age at death 8 years is the end point/goal age as the remaining population alive is less than 10%

Predicted age at death Phenotype = 7.18 7 years 8 years 6 years Based on historical data predictions Phenotype = 7.18

Predicted age at death Phenotype = 7.18 Years lived Phenotype 1 5.89 2 6.01 3 6.23 4 6.49 5 6.81 6 7.18 7 7.56 8+ 8 7 years 8 years 6 years Pr=0.62 Pr=0.56 Based on historical data predictions Phenotype = 7.18

Longevity definition – dairy goats Aspects of productive longevity Lifetime days in milk Average lifetime daily yield Total lifetime yield 29/8/2017 EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking

Heritability Trait Heritability (s.e.) Age at death 0.10 (0.01) Predicted age 0.11 (0.01) Heritabilities are fairly typical of longevity traits based on the literature

Hertitability Trait Heritability (s.e.) Age at death 0.10 (0.01) Predicted age 0.11 (0.01) Lifetime DIM Total lifetime yield 0.09 (0.01) Av lifetime daily yield 0.15 (0.01) Heritabilities are fairly typical of longevity traits based on the literature

Further phenotyping activities (INIA, INRA) 3 experiments mainly oriented to determine body reserves utilisation under different environments(nutritional and weatherlike) –Meat sheep (Romane) in two environments, poor and semi-intensive; link between feed efficiency and adaptation to harsh environment 29/8/2017 EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking

Further phenotyping activities (INIA, INRA) 3 experiments mainly oriented to determine body reserves utilisation under different environments(nutritional and weatherlike) –Meat sheep (Romane) in two environments, poor and semi-intensive; link between feed efficiency and adaptation to harsh environment –Dairy sheep (Lacaune)-body reserve dynamics including restricted intake and two selection lines for milk production persistency –Dairy sheep (Manchega) –body reserve dynamics under different weather conditions 29/8/2017 EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking

Genotyping activities Sheep to be genotyped over the next year Genomic characterisation of resilience traits Genomic association studies Genomic predictions Partner 50K LD HD AUTH 670 20 INIA 300 22 INRA 375 330 SRUC 999 1,085 30 Total iSAGE 2,344 1,415 72

Other ongoing activities Case studies to assess productivity and competitiveness of local breeds Spain, UK, Turkey, Greece, Finland New breeding programmes 29/8/2017 EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking

EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking 29/8/2017 EAAP, iSAGE-Sheepnet networking

Methodology -Models Fixed Effects Random effect Birth year Farm Max lactation number Age at 1st kidding Deviation from lactation 1 mean milk yield (per kid year group) Birth year by farm interaction Max lactation number by farm interaction Random effect Individual animal ASReml used to run linear mixed models All these effects were significant so were included in the model

Longevity data summary Trait Count Min Max Average SD Age at death (years) 15,724 0.70 12.93 4.40 2.15 Predicted age (years) 23,580 5.06 2.01 Lifetime DIM (days) 2 3,670 1,064.4 705 Total lifetime yield (kg) 1 10,982 2,857 2,214 Av lifetime daily yield (kg) 5.63 2.57 0.98 NOTE predicted lifetime yield is not included here as the phenotypes of this trait were calculated slightly differently (used the residuals which are adjusted phenotypes so in this context they would not make sense)