1. How to understand and use dairy goat performance data
Improving Dairy Goats
How to understand and use dairy goat performance data

2. Questions to Answer
Where does the data come from and how does it get to us?
What happens to the “numbers” once they leave the barn?
How can this data be used to improve our animals?
How can you make informed decisions on breeding?
How can you choose a herd sire with the best chance for improving your animals?
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Gene Dershewitz

3. Overview Considerations Goat data flow AIPL-USDA processing Buck Data
Doe Data
Future Plans
Resources
Questions???
Demo
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4. Considerations Pros Cons Sure beats performance volumes!
Data as soon as evaluations are released
Many ways of viewing the data
Cons
Manual addition of goats without yield and/or type data
Many does are only identified by Reg #
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Gene Dershewitz

5. Goat Data Flow 9/4/2019 Gene Dershewitz Milk Test Day Data (Yield)
Linear Appraisal
(Type)
AIPL-USDA
DRPC
ADGA
Public Production
And
Type Data
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Gene Dershewitz

6. AIPL-USDA AIPL = “Animal Improvement Programs Laboratory” Charter
To discover, test, and implement improved genetic evaluation techniques for economically important traits of dairy cattle and goats
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7. Yield Evaluation Yield evaluations released each July
Figured using complex criteria
Data is filtered to remove outlying points
Factors considered:
Management Group (herd, kidding month and kidding number)
Genetic merit (breeding value)
Permanent environment (disease, superior rearing)
Herd-sire interaction (daughters in 1 herd, same sire, similar yield)
Unexplained residual effects
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Gene Dershewitz

8. Yield Evaluation Terms
PTA – Predicted Transmitting Ability
PTA is the genetic merit the animal is expected to contribute to offspring and is ½ the breeding value.
All breeds are analyzed together but PTA can only be compared within a breed.
The yield genetic base by breed is recalculated every 5 years.
REL – Reliability
Measure of evaluation accuracy
For bucks, more herds, higher reliability
MFP$ - Milk-Fat-Protein Dollars
Index for yield economic value
$.031 (PTA milk) + $.80 (PTA fat) + $2.00 (PTA protein)
PCTILE – Percentile
Based on MFP$
Top 15% bucks and 5% does are designated elite
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9. Average Genetic Merit 9/4/2019 Gene Dershewitz Breed Milk Fat Protein
Alpine .0
Experimental
-114
-.7
-1.3
LaMancha
-334
-4.8
-5.4
Nubian
-531
4.4
-1.9
Oberhasli
-476
-15.7
-14.3
Saanen 60 8
1.9
Toggenburg
-18
-6.4
-3.5
Breed differences in average estimated breeding value based on 1990 data from AIPL. This value is subtracted from the actual calculated breed value to arrive at the PTA.
9/4/2019
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10. Type Evaluation
Linear Appraisal data for final score (50-99) and 13 linear traits (1-50) comes from ADGA
Values are adjusted for age at appraisal and all evaluations are used
Multi-trait animal model is used
Correlations between traits is considered using heritability factors
Data is analyzed across breeds and are not adjusted, so comparison can be made.
9/4/2019
Gene Dershewitz

11. Evaluation Indexes PTI (Production Type Index)
Relative breeding value based on both yield and type
Combines yield (FCM) and type (PTA) with breed factors
Production over Type (2:1)
Type over Production (1:2)
Higher PTI = Higher breeding value
ETA (Estimated Transmitting Ability)
Based on the PTIs of parents
Must have at least the sire PTI and dam or dam’s sire PTI
2 weightings – ETA 2:1 and ETA 1:2
Comparisons only within a breed
Higher ETA = Higher potential breeding value
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12. Buck Data General Buck data is based only on daughter evaluations
Since a buck has the most significant effect on the total herd improvement, concentrate on the boys!
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13. Buck Yield Data Lots of fields to pick from (PTA, PTA% and others)
All can be subset by breed
Options:
Sort – Return the top 50 bucks for a given field sorted in descending order.
Name Search – Find bucks with names either starting with or containing a string
Pctile or Rel Search – Subset data for a range of values
Uses:
Bucks offering the most improvement in milk, fat or protein
Compare bucks from the same herd
Find bucks with the most consistency
Find bucks with the most dairy value
Find the most widely used bucks
View details of a specific buck
9/4/2019
Gene Dershewitz

14. Buck Type Data Lots of fields to pick from All can be subset by breed
Options:
Sort – Return bucks for a given field sorted in descending Rel order.
Name Search – Find bucks with names either starting with or containing a string
Trait Ideal Range – Find bucks with trait values in the ADGA defined trait ideal range
Trait UD Range – Same a #4 but you can define the range
Trait Ordered By PTA – Subset data by individual trait values
Uses:
Find the mostly widely used bucks
Find bucks offering the most improvement for a specific trait
Find bucks with a trait value in a specific range
View details of a specific buck
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Gene Dershewitz

15. Doe Data
Does are identified in public data only by registration number prior to 1990
Does names in my database have been user entered or otherwise loaded
Only doe details can be viewed
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16. Future Plans Convert site to new web technology
Planned breeding ETA calculator and pedigree viewer
Best buck for a doe
Any other ideas you can come up with…
Keep out of trouble
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Gene Dershewitz

17. Resources Missdee’s Alpines Website AIPL Home Page
AIPL Home Page
AIPL Goat Evaluation Description
ADGA Sire Development Document
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18. Questions
What’s on your mind???

19. Demo