ABSTRACT The Sahiwal population in Kenya, which is bred under a closed nucleus, is faced with declining effective population size over the years and rate of inbreeding per generation >1% beyond which it should not exceed for a population to maintain its long-term fitness and viability. This study estimated gene origin statistics, Wright’s F-statistics, current and future rates of inbreeding, coancestry and effective population size and genetic gain in lactation milk yield at predetermined r...
Genetic and phenotypic parameters for longevity, genetic relationship between longevity and growth, milk yield and fertility traits and rate of inbreeding were estimated for Sahiwal cattle in Kenya. The aim was to assess the genetic diversity and inbreeding depression for performance traits. Data utilized were for cows born between 1972 and 2004 and with milk production records between 1976 and 2008. Measures of longevity related to productive life were: time between birth (Long_1) or fi...
The objective of this study was to contribute to dairy cattle improvement in Kenya through optimization of breeding systems that incorporate reproductive technologies and milk quality traits in the dairy cattle breeding programme. Specifically, the study: 1) compared response to selection realized in a closed two-tier nucleus breeding system utilizing different reproductive technologies, 2) estimated the economic values for milk protein yield and mastitis resistance, and 3) compared resp...
ABSTRACT Poultry production is one of the animal production enterprises with a promising future in Rwanda as 80.1% of all Rwandese raise chickens. Indigenous chickens (IC) are the most numerous and important species of poultry as they are found in most rural households in Rwanda. Currently, IC potential is underutilized due to the lack of well-defined production and breeding practices; the farmer, marketer and consumers’ breed preferences and traits of economic importance are unknown. The ...
ABSTRACT Genetic and phenotypic parameters for longevity, genetic relationship between longevity and growth, milk yield and fertility traits and rate of inbreeding were estimated for Sahiwal cattle in Kenya. The aim was to assess the genetic diversity and inbreeding depression for performance traits. Data utilized were for cows born between 1972 and 2004 and with milk production records between 1976 and 2008. Measures of longevity related to productive life were: time between birth (Long_1) o...
ABSTRACT Indigenous chicken are mainly kept in subsistence systems and constitute about 80% of Africa’s poultry flock. Currently, there are no well-defined breeding goals and genetic improvement programmes for the indigenous chicken are rare. The overall aim of this study was to develop breeding goals for use in production systems utilising the indigenous chicken. The specific objectives were to construct a deterministic bio-economic model for the economic evaluation of production systems ...
ABSTRACT Aphids are the major pests of vegetables leading to a significant yield loss in African indigenous vegetables including amaranth and nightshades. Information on the types of aphids that infest these vegetables and their genetic diversity in Kenya and Tanzania is scanty. This is an important diagnostic component in developing management strategies such as integrated pest management and early detection and control of invasive species. This study used a fragment of the mitochondrial cyt...
ABSTRACT The Kenyan mountaiu bongo (Fr(/ge/fI/J/lII,' curycerus is(1f1ci) is an endangered Tragclnphinc antelope sub-species endemic to Mt. Kenya- Aberdare ecosystems. This antelope has currently been reduced to pockets of small populations in forest patches (mainly in the Aberdares) exacerbated primarily by habitat fragmentation due to anthropogenic and disease factors. The conservation and survival of these species needs vital cmpiricul datil 011 critical luctors such as genetic processes t...
This study was conducted in Bekwarra Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria, to identify and determine some characteristics of local chickens. A total of 530 adult chickens of both sexes and 111 fresh eggs were carefully examined at seven administrative council wards of the local government. About 43.00% of the birds observed were male while 57.00% were females. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was employed to carry out descriptive statistics on qualitative and quan...
ABSTRACT Parent stocks (PS) of exotic hybrids have contributed immensely to commercial poultry production in Nigeria. Their continued optimal utilization depends on their performance test. Information on performance indices of PS layer breeds in South-West Nigeria is however limited. The growth, reproductive performance and seasonal sensitivity of Bovan Nera (BN) and Isa Brown (IB) hybrids were evaluated. Secondary data on 24 batches of PS of each of BN and IB kept over a period of 10 years (...
Background: Poultry semen cryopreservation remains an easy and promising way of preserving and transferring poultry germplasm. Standardizing and optimizing freezing procedure with natural extender may be a reliable step towards achieving better post-thawed sperm quality. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of four different freezing protocols (FP) on frozen rooster semen extended with tris coconut water extender (TCWE). A total of 20 roosters were used and trained for semen co...
ABSTRACT Sex determination of Nigerian indigenous frizzle feathered and naked neck chicks has been a difficult task especially due to the monomorphism and high variation in the feather colour of this indigenous chickens using the feather sexing method. Thus, the vent sexing method is cheap and easy to carry out depending on the level of expertise and the molecular sexing technique was developed from recent stu...
ABSTRACT This experiment was conducted to estimate and study the genetic gain (ΔG) of FUNAAB Alpha broiler chicken that was selected mainly for breast girth at week 0 to week 10, to provide support for genetic improvement. A total of 200 FUNAAB Alpha broiler chicken were sourced for and fed ad libitum. Data were collected at the end of 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th week; birds/strain was selected from both strains. The initial breast gi...
The experiment was conducted to compare the various carcass characteristics between two broiler strains. A total bird of 150 day-old chick of two commercial broiler strains (Marshall and Cobb, 75 each) were raised and at the end of 4, 6 and 8 weeks, 20 birds/strain; 40 birds/week, making a total of 120 birds were randomly selected from both strains for carcass analysis. The birds were starved of feed overnight and individually weighed to obtain starved live body weight. The birds were stu...
The study determined the allele and genotype frequencies of genetic variants in two genes associated with milk production traits in four indigenous cattle breeds (N’dama, White Fulani, Muturu and Keteku) in Nigeria. Polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique was used to detect genetic polymorphisms in two milk genes (kappa casein (K-CN) and Prolactin (PRL)). Three genetic variants (AA, AB and BB) of K-CN gene were detected in White Fulani and Mut...