Strategies to control inbreeding in a pig breeding program: a simulation study

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate, through data simulation, the impact of restrictions on the maximum number of full- and half-sibs selected for males and females on the level of inbreeding and genetic gain of the herd. Data came from real populations A and B, composed of Pietrain and Landrace breed pigs, respectively. To generate the simulated populations, a Fortran-language simulator was developed using the (co)variances of the breeding values and the productive and reproductive rates obtained from populations A and B. Two data files were created. The first contained the pedigree of the previous 10 years, with 21,906 and 251,343 animals in populations A and B, respectively. The second included breeding values for age to reach 110 Kg body weight, backfat thickness, and feed conversion, for both populations; longissimus dorsi muscle depth, for population A only; and number of live piglets at the 5th day of life per farrowing, for population B only. Three scenarios were simulated with ten generations by varying the restrictions on the number of full- and half-sibs selected for males and females, with 30 replicates per generation and scenario. Regardless of the mating strategy used in a closed production unit, there is an increase in inbreeding levels. Inbreeding increases are larger in populations of smaller effective size. Restrictions on the number of full- and half-sibs selected are effective in reducing increments in inbreeding. Restriction to a maximum of two full-sibs and three half-sibs for males and three full sisters for females provided the highest genetic gains.

Effect of artificial insemination in comparison to natural mating on the reproductive performance and profitability of smallholder pig production system in Indian Himalaya

“…This leads to inbreeding which results in low productivity and reproductive efficiency. It was earlier reported that an increase in pig inbreeding is greater in populations with smaller effective population sizes (Lopes et al, 2019). Our previous studies on organized farms have reported similar reproductive performance in pigs bred by AI in subtropical climates (Singh et al, 2020b(Singh et al, , 2021a(Singh et al, , 2022.…”

Inbreeding and reproductive signs in mini-pigs ICG SB RAS

“…Совершенствование методов селекции является постоянной задачей разведения животных. К одним из её конкретных направлений относится оптимизация использования инбридинга [1,2]. В традиционном разведении свиней промышленного использования данная проблема успешно решалась при помощи структуризации пород на стада, линии и семейства [3].…”