Application of DNA markers in parentage verification of Boran cattle in Kenya

Boran cattle provide livelihood to thousands of households in the arid and semi arid lands of Kenya. The Kenya Boran cattle breeders’ society (KBCBS) is actively involved in the improvement of the breed. Due to their superior adaptive and productive traits in comparison to other indigenous breeds of cattle, they have also become a popular choice for breeders in Eastern and Southern Africa. Their continued genetic improvement through progeny and performance testing is critical and accurate pedigree records are paramount. Pedigree records of four stud herds were evaluated for accuracy using 11 microsatellite markers on 178 samples. The microsatellite markers had a combined probability of exclusion (CPE) of 0.9997. The dam misidentification rate was 0 to 5% and that of the sires ranged from 4.3 to 80% between the four stud herds. 4,456 Boran pedigree records from Kenya stud book for the four participating stud herds were analysed for inbreeding. The average generation interval was 6.8 years and the estimated inbreeding coefficient was unexpectedly low (0.0023), probably due to incomplete records. The high rate of mispaternity will lead to low response to selection and increased inbreeding. The use of DNA markers for parentage assignment will improve the accuracy of the pedigree records. This will enhance the accuracy of selection, increase the rate of genetic gain and improve effective monitoring of inbreeding.Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2011.Animal and Wildlife Sciencesunrestricte

Factors influencing adoption of New Castle Disease Vaccine in Kakamega County in Kenya

Kenya has approximately 28 million poultry of which 22 million (76%) are indigenous chicken kept on free-range system by small-scale farmers in rural and peri-urban areas. Poultry production requires low initial capital and maintenance costs; however, predation and disease hinders this potential from full exploitation by 50-74% and 36-50% respectively. New castle disease (NCD) is the major cause of mortality in indigenous chicken flock. In Western Kenya, vaccination using heat labile live vaccines has been in use for its control. Due to high costs incurred in handling the vaccines, only large-scale commercial farms have the capacity to meet the demand. This leaves out the small-scale indigenous chicken farmers who produce over 70% of meat and 50% of eggs consumed in Kenya. This study was undertaken in January 2011 with the main objective being to determine mortality due to NCD and the factors influencing the adoption of its vaccine. Descriptive survey using questionnaire was used and forty respondents were involved the study. Only 35% of the respondent in the study area had adopted the vaccination and out of all the chicks hutched, only 45% survived to maturity. The loss due to predation and diseases were 45% and 55% respectively. The factors that influenced adoption were effectiveness, ease of availability, lack of any other option and affordability of vaccine at 34.6%, 26.9%, 23.1% and 15.4% respectively

Application of DNA markers in parentage verification of Boran cattle in Kenya

Boran cattle provide livelihood to thousands of households in the arid and semi arid lands (ASAL) of Kenya. Due to their superior adaptive and productive traits in comparison to other breeds of cattle, they have also become a popular choice for breeders in Eastern and Southern Africa. Continued genetic improvement of the breed is important and therefore accurate performance and pedigree records are required. 178 Pedigree records and blood samples of four Boran stud herds were evaluated for accuracy of parentage allocation using 11 microsatellite markers recommended by ISAG for parentage verification. The panel of the 11 microsatellite markers were found to be highly polymorphic (PIC of 0.6901) with a combined probability of exclusion (CPE) of 0.9997. The dam misidentification was low ranging between 0 and 5% for the herds tested. The estimated rate of mispaternity however ranged between 4.3 and 80% among the four stud herds and more than 50% of the offspring of some herds were misidentified. The high rate of mispaternity will have a negative impact on the response to selection. The use of DNA markers for parentage assignment will improve the accuracy of the pedigree records of Boran stud cattle in Kenya and contribute to more accurate selection of superior animals.Moi University's School of Agriculture and Biotechnology and MU—VLIR UOS.http://www.springerlink.com/content/0049-4747nf201