Multi-trait selection for body weight, egg production and total fat in the Chinese and Synthetic strains of geese

Abstract

, J. W. 2004. Multi-trait selection for body weight, egg production and total fat in the Chinese and Synthetic strains of geese. Can. J. Anim. . The Chinese and Synthetic (assembled from Pilgrim, Chinese and Hungarian) strains raised at the Greenbelt farm of the Centre for Food and Animal Research (formerly Animal Research Centre, and Animal Research Institute) located in Ottawa, Canada, had been subjected to 12 yr of random mating. From 1982 onwards, these two strains were selected for five generations in order to increase egg production over a 24-wk laying period and body weight at 16 wk of age, and to simultaneously decrease total fat (abdominal and intestinal). At the same time, Randombred Chinese and Synthetic strains were maintained during the course of selection to monitor year-to-year trends in the production traits. In both the Randombred strains, body weights at 9 and 16 wk of age remained stable (P > 0.05) during the course of the study. In the Selected Chinese strain, five generations of selection increased male and female body weight at 16 wk of age by 0.181 ± 0.024 and 0.165 ± 0.009 kg/generation, respectively, (P < 0.05), while egg production increased by 1.3 ± 0.73 eggs/generation (P > 0.05). Concurrently, in the Selected Synthetic strain, male and female body weight at 16 wk of age increased by 0.085 ± 0.028 (P < 0.10) and 0.084 ± 0.024 kg/generation (P < 0.05), respectively, while egg production increased by 1.1 ± 0.87 eggs/generation (P > 0.05). In Generation 6, measures of the abdominal, intestinal and total fat increased significantly in the Selected Chinese strain when compared to the Randombred Chinese strain, whereas the Selected and Randombred Synthetic strains were similar (P > 0.05). Correlated responses to selection were observed for body weight at slaughter, eviscerated carcass weight, dressing percentage, weights of the liver and neck, as well as fertility and hatchability traits. In the Selected Chinese strain, the genetic response to selection estimated as a deviation from the Randombred Chinese strain from Generation 2 to 6 for male and female body weight at 16 wk of age were 0.17 ± 0.03 and 0.13 ± 0.02 kg/generation, respectively (P < 0.05). Corresponding estimates of genetic response in the Selected Synthetic strain as a deviation from the Randombred Synthetic strain were 0.04 ± 0.01 and 0.05 ± 0.01 kg/generation, respectively (P < 0.05). In light of the variable results on fatness in the two Selected strains assessed, there is a need for further studies on response to selection for reduced abdominal and intestinal fat. Therefore, selection studies based on a larger number of geese are warranted to sustain goose breeding. Nevertheless, it is evident that multi-trait selection for egg production and body weight offers one of the most practical means for rapid and permanent improvement of economically important production traits in commercial goose breeding. , ont été accouplées de manière aléatoire pendant 12 ans. À partir de 1982, les deux races ont toutefois été sélectionnées ...

Evaluation of Pilgrim, Hungarian, Chinese, Synthetic and Embden strains of geese and their crosses for body weight

“…Both the Synthetic and Chinese strains had been maintained for 12 yr as randombred populations before this study was initiated. Beginning in 1982, the Chinese and Synthetic strains were selected for multiple traits, which included egg production over a 24-wk laying period, body weight at 16 wk of age and total (abdominal and intestinal) fat, described elsewhere (Shrestha et al 2004). Concurrently, randombred populations of the Chinese and Synthetic strains were maintained, in order to monitor year to year trends that might have occurred among the various traits assessed during the course of selection.…”

Body weights, carcass characteristics, fat content, and their relationships in ganders of the Selected Chinese and Synthetic strains, and Embden-sired strain crosses

“…Fortin et al (1983) reported on these same strains prior to the four generations of selection described previously by Shrestha et al (2004b) that the Chinese strain was lighter than the Synthetic strain at slaughter (5.39 vs. 5.67 kg) and for eviscerated carcass weight (3.28 vs. 3.46 kg) but percentage abdominal fat was about the same (5.19 vs. 5.26%). These findings are in contrast to the present study because the Selected Chinese strain not only weighed more compared with the Selected Synthetic strain, but also produced a heavier carcass with similar percentage of abdominal fat.…”

“…Consequently specialized strain crosses with the objective of foie gras production need to be developed. The four generations of multi-trait selection in the Chinese and Synthetic strains increased egg production over a 24-wk laying period (1.3 and 1.1 egg generation -1 , respectively) and increased male and female body weight at 16 wk of age (0.18 and 0.17 kg generation -1 , respectively) for the Selected Chinese strain, and (0.09 and 0.08 kg generation -1 , respectively) for the Selected Synthetic strain, without a significant reduction in total fat (Shrestha et al 2004b). The heavier Embden-sired crosses showed a significantly heavier weight gain in live and carcass traits along with a higher fat content than the Selected Chinese and Synthetic strains.…”

“…Both the Synthetic and Chinese strains, maintained for 12 yr as randombred populations before 1982, were selected for egg production over a 24-wk laying period, body weight at 16 wk of age and decrease in total (abdominal and intestinal) fat. This has been described elsewhere (Shrestha et al 2004b). In 1985, the two Embden strains imported from the United States of America and raised at this Centre, were defined as Large and Small to reflect their contrasting body size.…”

“…At the same time, the Hungarian strain (4.17 kg) was consistently lightest, the Pilgrim strain (4.65 kg) was intermediate and the Large Embden (6.15 kg) and Small Embden (5.49 kg) were heaviest. When the present study was initiated the Chinese and Synthetic strains had been selected for four generations in order to increase egg production (over a 24-wk laying period) and body weight at 16 wk of age, and simultaneously decrease abdominal and intestinal (total) fat content (Shrestha et al 2004b). Although there have been a few studies on carcass characteristics and fat content of geese (Stfanescu et al 1970;Karasiński 1977;Wawro 1982;Fortin et al 1983;Michalik et al 1983;Bochno et al 1979Bochno et al , 1987Grunder et al 1988) information on Embden-sired strain crosses has been lacking.…”