Analysis of backfat thickness in on-farm tested gilts in Slovenia using reaction norms

Abstract

Animals have the ability to respond to differences in environment, which can be called phenotypic plasticity or environment sensitivity. Robust animal, that show little variability across environments, are less sensitive. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate genotype by environment interaction for backfat thickness using reaction norm. Random regression model have become common for analyzing data on individuals over time. Reaction norms were predicted for 239 sires. Results show how sires differ across environments for backfat thickness.

Keywords

• pigs
• gilts
• genetics
• environment
• maternal genotype
• backfat thickness