Data from the WVU buck performance test is used to make genetic herd improvements

Charles M. Becher* and Scott A. Bowdridge
Davis College of Agriculture Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26505

Presentation No.: 2

Assigned Category (Presentation Format): Agricultural & Environmental Sciences (Oral Presentations)

Student’s Major: Animal and Nutritional Sciences

Selective breeding of livestock is integral to maintaining herd-wide genetic progress. When large-scale genetic evaluation programs are unavailable, performance tests are critical to determining phenotypic trends across herds. In WVU’s Annual Buck Test, 172 Kiko goats, from 38 producers representing 16 different states, are brought to a common, unbiased environment to measure weight gain, muscling, and parasite resistance. Our test is unique as animals are infected with Haemonchus contortus (Barber Pole Worm), the greatest contributor to non-predator death loss for small ruminant producers. At intake, goats are treated with dewormer to clear residual infection and allow for establishment of a resistance baseline prior to controlled infection with H. contortus. Fecal egg counts (FEC) are used to estimate parasite load by assessing the number of worm eggs per gram of feces. Intake FEC averaged 576 eggs/g and dropped to 25 eggs/g by test-start, representing a 96% reduction post-deworming. The test goal is to provide producers a service that allows them to make data-based phenotypic improvements to their herd’s genetics, yielding healthier, more productive livestock.

Funding:

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's SURE program (Rita Rio & Michelle Richards-Babb)