Pedigree

The goal in breeding is not always to present the exterior appearance of the sheep but rather the interior work of the enclosures to obtain extraordinary results. Breed improvement is done in four ways. -By selective breeding. -By Elimination -By Crossing or Mixed breeding -By Inbreeding SELECTIVE BREEDING involves choosing the two best individuals (males and females) of the same breed with desirable traits, such as strong immune systems, good mothering abilities, and efficient feed conversion, to mate and pass on their genes to the next generation. It aims to maintain genetic diversity while still improving desired traits. Avoid excessive intervention in the breeding process and let nature take its course and ensure you put them in a good environment. Advantages of selective breeding: 1. Genetic diversity: Selective breeding helps maintain a more diverse gene pool, thereby reducing the risk of inbreeding depression and preserving adaptability to changing environmental conditions. 2. Flexibility and adaptability: Through selective breeding, breeders have more freedom to introduce new genetic material and incorporate various traits into a population. 3. Health and vigor: Taking into account the health and performance of the individual animal, selective breeding aims to improve the overall vitality and vigor of the population. Disadvantages of selective breeding: 1. Lengthy Process: Compared to inbreeding and line selection, selective breeding may require more time to achieve the desired results because it relies on the identification and selection of individuals with the desired characteristics in a larger pool. 2. Complexity of Trait Selection: Selective breeding often involves considering multiple traits, which can be difficult to balance to achieve optimal results. 3. Potential for reduced uniformity: The emphasis on maintaining genetic diversity in selective breeding can result in less uniformity within a population, making it more difficult to predict specific traits in offspring. ELIMINATION OF REPRODUCTION: This is also called the method of survival of the fittest, whereby you eliminate unwanted flaws, characteristics or flaws. This method also involves culling, which involves sending out inferior or animals with traits that you have an excess of. You you must ensure minimal interference during birthing and rearing. This helps naturally select for weaker offspring that might not thrive in your farming system, as the stronger ones will have a better chance of survival. This can help maintain a population with robust genetic traits. To ensure that natural selection takes place during reproduction, it is important to consider the following: Provide a natural and healthy environment in which they can live. This includes access to clean pasture, appropriate shelter and adequate space for exercise. A healthy environment promotes the general well-being of animals and allows them to develop their innate characteristics. Resist the urge to use too many medications or intervene with preventative treatments, as this could interfere with the natural selection process. Instead, focus on selecting animals that have strong disease resistance and are able to survive and thrive in their environment. Allow them to feed and graze on a variety of vegetation as this supports their natural feeding behavior. A diverse diet can help build resilience. CROSSING OR MIXED BREEDING: It consists of introducing into the population two subjects of different breeds presenting genetic diversity by occasionally introducing quality and unrelated breeding stock. This helps avoid inbreeding and the associated negative effects on the overall health and viability of the herd. Now let’s move on to mixing, stopping at the first generation. You can also crossbreed to improve a breed. And in this case, after the first crossing the mixed blood obtained is crossed with the male of the to be improved to obtain a 3/4, then this 3/4 is crossed again with a male of the same breed to obtain a blood 7 / 8., the 7/8 cross will give a 15/16 and so on… Already in the 4th generation (15/16 or 93%), we have improved the characteristics of the initial breed. This is where F1 to F5 comes in. INBREEDING: You must be surprised to see this as a form of breed improvement. Despite its generally harmful effects, it is very useful in animal breeding. It enables you to uncover and eliminate harmful recessive genes within the population. With inbreeding you can concentrate a forefather’s DNA and expose and eliminate harmful recessive genes. Inbred animals are more likely to pass on their own characteristics on a frequent basis. When you improve by inbreeding, it would be easier to predict how your crosses would progress. Inbreeding is very difficult to control and should be done “only“ when necessary and purposefully. It must begin with selection and followed by elimination to remove the negative effects that might come with it. Types of inbreeding are Close inbreeding and Line inbreeding . You can read more about Inbreeding Here. Remember, natural selection is an ongoing process, so it is important to regularly assess the performance of your sheep and make breeding decisions based on their natural adaptations and fitness in your specific farming system. continued….. BREEDING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Written by JajiBasit

If you are interested in sheep farming and want to know everything about giving birth to sheep, this article is for you! Here are the key points to remember to successfully complete this crucial stage of breeding! 🐑 1️⃣ The time of giving birth: The average gestation period is 145 days and the first giving births take place between 140 and 142 days (for viable lambs). A ewe that is ready to lamb can be recognized (in principle!) by its swollen vulva, its tense udders, the slightly red teats and a hollow between the ribs and the hips. With the contractions getting closer and more intense, the mother-to-be turns in circles, scratches with her foot, gets up and lays down again, sometimes bleats. She seeks to isolate herself. These signs are more or less marked and last more or less long depending on the animal. Under the effect of contractions, the first lamb places its head at the entrance to the pelvis. The sheep then rises and lies down constantly. The water bag ruptures under the effect of pressure. This slightly sticky liquid then facilitates giving birth. It also has an attractive odor for the sheep which will give birth in the place where the liquid was expelled. This will be a way for her to recognize her lamb after lambing. 2️⃣ Preparing the lambing pen: Before lambing, it is essential to prepare a specific, clean and well-appointed pen to accommodate the ewe. Make sure you have enough clean straw, space and individual shelter for the ewe. 3️⃣ Assistance when needed: Some ewes may have difficulty giving birth or require special assistance. It is important to monitor carefully and intervene if necessary to help the ewe deliver her lamb without complications. 4️⃣ Some signs that require intervention: Certain signs require rapid intervention by the breeder. When the waters are yellowish, the fetus expels its meconium and this can be a sign of suffering. If the water bag that has broken is clear but very elongated, this means that the ewe has pushed a lot and that the lamb is probably in a bad position. If the water bag that broke is dark or smelly, the lamb has suffered and may already be dead. 5️⃣ Postpartum care: After giving birth, it is important to ensure that the ewe and her lambs are doing well. Make sure you provide the ewe with adequate and sufficient nutrition to promote recovery. Additionally, monitor the lamb to ensure it is suckling properly. By knowing these key points, you will put all the chances on your side to successfully lamb your sheep. Don’t hesitate to share with passionate breeders

Salam everyone! Today we are talking about the choice of the Breeder (Breeder) We can note 3 major criteria: 1- Choice about ANCESTRY: this choice is based on genetics, therefore on the genetic potential of the parents. If parents are good, they naturally transmit their qualities to their offspring who in turn transmit them to their descendants. A good father is, above all, one who has good parents (or even good grandparents). If I am to by my understudy of the breeding competition that happens yearly in Senegal, the history of their competitions has shown that the winners are always the males and females with the best parents. I remember clearly from records that DIEYNA was 1st Saladam Champion in 2010. Her daughter Aicha succeeded her in 2011, her other daughter FESMAN became champion in 2013 and the latter’s daughter Bébé Yacine was crowned vice-champion in 2014. Her great-grandchildren – children – girls Niary Gouye and the Diva are 2016 and 2020 champions respectively.On the men’s side we have the same result. Cheikh Diop, Saladam 2011 champion (former HG record holder) and Aicha are the parents of Magistrat (2016 champion) who is the father of GRAND RANE (2018 vice-champion) and Bâtonnier (2nd vice-champion 2020 and HG record holder). Magistrate is also the grandfather of Expert and Tokyo (champion and vice-champion 2023, weight record holder).Boy Sérére, 2012 champion and LCS record holder, is the father of the United Nations (2014 champion), grandfather of Makhou Seye, current LCS record holder and great-grandfather of Bagdad (2nd in 2020). Naomi (2018 Champ) is the direct granddaughter of Sofia (2012 Champ) and First Lady (2016 2nd Runner-up). Ndeweuneul (2023 Champion and 2023 HG record) is the daughter of TERANGA (2018 Champion hope and HG record holder).Alboury (Kharbi 2014) and Nephertity (Saladam 2012) are direct descendants of Mandela, the first champion of Kharbi 2009.Genetics doesn’t lie! 2/ The choice on DESCENDENCE:This choice is simpler and more reasonable because we choose the progenitor in relation to his offspring. If the babies are okay, that means the parents are good. 3/ MASS SELECTION:There it is the mass (the phenotype) which determines the choice. The father has good measurements and good shape (characteristics of the breed) and we choose him. Note that: Phenotype = Genotype + Environment. A subject with good genetics and well maintained has more than a 99% chance of being tall.However, a bull can be lacking in mass (or even a failure) and still be an excellent breeder. He may have very good parents and suffer from poor maintenance, which means he is not the way we want him to be. This will not prevent him from having good offspring since it is genes inherited from the parents that he transmits to them. We know the case of Djiby (son of Gorgui and Khady Tyson) who was a failure following poor maintenance but produced excellent products such as Boy Sérére, Bachir, Yannick, Grand Coly, Baye Cheikh… We just have to ask ourselves the question of knowing the type of breeding we would like to do..In the specific case of ladoum which breeding give me joy, you just need to have the1- genealogical information of parents and grandparents2 – information on the genotyping of parents and grandparents3- qualification information of the subject and parents (prolificacy & productivity)4- performance information of the animal and its parents (measurements / age / health etc.)and finally the genetic information of the subject and his parents..To determine a good 𝗠𝗮̂𝗹𝗲 𝗴𝗲́𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘂𝗿 ( 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗺 )