Enhancement of the Reliability of Animal Genotyping Regarding the Betterment of Wool Productivity in South-Kazakh Merino Sheep in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Enhancement of the production and productivity in animals is possible by improving the environment and changing the genetic structure of the herd which is done through selection. The present study aimed to investigate the efficiency of using genetic resources in the population of South-Kazakh merino sheep breed to improve and enhance the quality of wool productivity by determining a combination of phenotypic traits, morphobic and chemical parameters, as well as immunogenetic factors. Wool productivity was studied and accounted for by cutting each animal's wool during the period of shearing with an accuracy of 0.1 kg. At the age of 14 months, samples of wool were taken from 10 ewes of each group to study the yield of pure wool using physical and technological indicators. The value of reproducibility coefficients was determined by conducting correlation analysis. The value was estimated from 0.439 to 0.871 and 0.331 to 0.776 for the live weight and wool cutting, respectively. The number of woolens per 1 mm2 of skin positively correlated with pure wool cutting (0.276±0.135) and woolliness factor (0.293±0.134), while it negatively correlated with the live weight of sheep (-0.055±0.140), staple length (-0.146±0.139), and toner wool (-0.180±0.138). This negative correlation implies that the most densely woolly sheep will not necessarily have a breeding advantage for the herd improvement on a combination of signs. However, the outstanding wool density as a separate indicator of sheep woolen productivity has a great breeding advantage; therefore, in the merino population, it is necessary to create a small factory line of sheep with a very large wool density. A variety of sheep productivity indices in each age had a high correlation with a variety of maximum productivity levels of animals bred in the conditions of "Batay-Shu" LLP.

Keywords

• fiber yield
• homeostatic system
• staple length
• wool