Genetic Analysis of Early Growth of Crossbred Dairy Cattle in Central Ethiopia Using Random

አህፅሮትየዲቃላ ጥጆችን የዕድገት ባህሪ የሚያሳዩ የጋራ ልይይት ክፍሎችን (covariance components) እና የጀነቲክስ ልኬቶችን (genetic parameters) ለመገመት፣ እንዲሁም ልኬቶቹ በከብቶቹ የዕድገት ወቅት የሚያሳዩትን አዝማሚያ ለማወቅ ጥናት ተካሂዷል፡፡ ለዚህ ጥናትም በሆለታ ምርምር ማዕከል ከተወለዱ 50 በመቶ የሆልስቴን ፍሬዥያን ደም ባላቸው  ዲቃላ ጥጆች ላይ በየወሩ በተሰበሰበ 13,839 በሆነ የክብደት መረጃ ላይ ተስማሚ ስታስቲካዊ ሞዴልን በመጠቀም ትንተና ተከነውኗል፡፡ ለዲቃላ ጥጆች ዕድገት ምክንያት የሆነው ከወላጆቻቸው የሚያገኙት የዘር ውርስ መጠን በ0.16 እና 0.30 መካከል እንደሆነና ከልደት እስከ 120 ቀን ዕድሜያቸው ድረስ የመጨመር አዝማሚያ እንደሚያሳይ ጥናቱ አሳይቷል፡፡ የዲቃላ ጥጆች ከእናት የሚያገኙት የዘር ውርስ መጠንም ከተወለዱበት ጊዜ ጀምሮ እስከ 540 ቀን ዕድሜያቸው ድረስ የመቀነስ አዝማሚያ እንዳለው ተረጋግጧል፡፡ ከተራራቁ የጥጆች ዕድሜዎች በተወሰዱ ክብደቶች መካከል የታየው  ጀነቲካዊ ዝምድና በተከታታይ የጥጆች ዕድሜዎች መካካል ከተወሰዱ ክብደቶች ጋር ሲነፃፀር አንስተኛ ሆኖ ተገኝቷል፡፡ የዝምድና መጠኑም ከ0.03 እስከ 1.00 ነበር፡፡ ዲቃላ የወተት ከብቶችን በወተት ማቆሚያ ዕድሜያቸው መረጣ በማካሄድ የቁም ከብደታቸውን ወይም ዕድገታቸውን ማሻሻል እንደሚቻል ጥናቱ አመልክቷል፡፡   Abstract The study was carried out to estimate the covariance components and genetic parameters associated with growth traits of crossbred cattle using random regression models as well as to examine their trend over trajectories. The study encompassed a total of 13,839 body weight records taken across different months from birth up to 540 days of age on 902 F1 HFB (Holstein Friesian Boran) crossbred growing calves born at Holetta Agricultural Research Center (HARC) between 1978 and 2003. Random Regression Models (RRM) were fitted to cubic Legendre polynomials (LP) of age at recording for additive genetic and permanent environmental effects of the animals and linear LP of age for their maternal genetic effects. The findings indicated that the additive direct heritability ranged between 0.16 and 0.30 and increased from birth until the age of 120 and then decreased from the age of 150 - 300 days and slightly increased again until the age of 450 days followed by slight decrease at the end of the trajectory. Maternal heritability patterns showed a decreasing trend from birth (0.07) to the age of 270 days (0.002) and continued declining to value closer to zero at the end of growth period (540 days). Genetic correlation estimates were higher between consecutive weight records as compared to records that were far apart from each other. The correlation estimates ranged from 0.03 to unity (1.00). Selection on crossbred dairy cattle can be done at weaning age for better genetic improvement of body weight traits

Breeding objectives, selection criteria and breeding system of indigenous goat types in bale zone, oromia, Ethiopia

The study was undertaken in bale zone to assess farmers selective breeding objectives, trait preferences, selection criteria and breeding system October 2012 to November 2013. A purposive and multistage sampling technique was applied for selection of 3 district and 9 kebeles. Then 360 households were selected by using simple random sampling techniques after the list of pastoralist having goats was identified. Statistical analysis system version 9.1 was used for analysis of data. Indices, effective population size and rate of inbreeding were calculated on average each respondent holds about 14 goats. Milk production is the main reason of goat keeping in the study area. Appearance is the first rank as selection criteria for male and female in all studies area. About 47.8% of the respondents have their own buck. The main use of breeding buck in the study area was for mating purpose (76.2%). Mean estimate of effective population size and mean rate of inbreeding was 2.43 and 0.21, respectively when a household flock is herded alone and under random mating. Therefore, any breed improvement strategies that are intended to be implemented in the study area and else- where should consider the traditional breeding practices and breeding objectives of the community.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 5 (2): 7-15, December, 201

Performance of crossbred dairy cows suitable for smallholder production systems at Holetta Agricultural Research Centre

The present study was undertaken to investigate productive and reproductive performances of F1 crossbred cows to produce and develop improved dairy cattle breed at on station and back up the on farm crossbreeding program at Holetta Research Center (HRC). One hundred fifty three F1 crossbred heifers were used to study growth performances and 111 worldwide sire (WWS) and 42 Kality (NAIC) sire records were used to analyze the data. A total of 802 milk records out of which 711 from worldwide sire (WWS) milk records and 91 from Kality (NAIC) bulls’ milk records were used to analyze the milk production performances. Least squares means of growth traits in this study birth weight (BWT), average daily gain (ADG) of crossbred heifers was 24.83 ± 2.33 kg and ADG ranges from 0.437 ± 0.01 to 0.546 ± 0.02 kg respectively. Least squares mean for age at first service (AFS), age at first calving (AFC), calving interval (CI), and number of service per conception (SPC) were 26.4±0.8 months, 35.7±o.81 months, 500.32±2.92 to 395.64 ± 4.9 days, and 1.2 ± 0.2 to 2.37 ± 0.05 services, respectively. Lactation milk yield (LMY) obtained from this result reflected progressive trend from 1st to 5th parity (1874.65 ± 67.7 to 2582.69 ± 111.2 kg) and started declining thereafter. The declining trend observed after the 5th parity is the normal biological  phenomenon from dairy cows under normal conditions. The improvement gained from this result is the outcome of the of management procedures and practices followed which have accounted for 15.5 % of early calving of young heifers and 21 % in milk yield increments made from Frisian Boran (FB) crossbred cows at HARC. The overall observed growth, reproductive and milk yield performance of FB crossbred dairy cows at HARC has shown progressively significant improvement. Thus in order to continue with the crossbreeding for development of F1 50% crossbred dairy cows to maintain the on station and backup the on farm breeding activity there is a need to do intensive and proper performance evaluation based on defined breeding  objectives. Culling procedures to avoid milking cows beyond the 5th parity is important. Research centers have to put maximum efforts to improve routine  management activities to maintain performance evaluated animals at the centers at all levels.Keywords: Crossbred, heifers, dairy cows, performanc

Breeding objectives, selection criteria and breeding system of indigenous goat types in bale zone, oromia, Ethiopia

The study was undertaken in bale zone to assess farmers selective breeding objectives, trait preferences, selection criteria and breeding system October 2012 to November 2013. A purposive and multistage sampling technique was applied for selection of 3 district and 9 kebeles. Then 360 households were selected by using simple random sampling techniques after the list of pastoralist having goats was identified. Statistical analysis system version 9.1 was used for analysis of data. Indices, effective population size and rate of inbreeding were calculated on average each respondent holds about 14 goats. Milk production is the main reason of goat keeping in the study area. Appearance is the first rank as selection criteria for male and female in all studies area. About 47.8% of the respondents have their own buck. The main use of breeding buck in the study area was for mating purpose (76.2%). Mean estimate of effective population size and mean rate of inbreeding was 2.43 and 0.21, respectively when a household flock is herded alone and under random mating. Therefore, any breed improvement strategies that are intended to be implemented in the study area and else- where should consider the traditional breeding practices and breeding objectives of the community.Int. J. Agril. Res. Innov. & Tech. 5 (2): 7-15, December, 201

BREEDING OBJECTIVES, SELECTION CRITERIA AND BREEDING SYSTEM OF INDIGENOUS GOAT TYPES IN BALE ZONE, OROMIA, ETHIOPIA

The study was undertaken in bale zone to assess farmer’s selective breeding objectives, trait preferences, selection criteria and breeding system October 2012 to November 2013. A purposive and multistage sampling technique was applied for selection of 3 district and 9 kebeles. Then 360 households were selected by using simple random sampling techniques after the list of pastoralist having goats was identified. Statistical analysis system version 9.1 was used for analysis of data. Indices, effective population size and rate of inbreeding were calculated on average each respondent holds about 14 goats. Milk production is the main reason of goat keeping in the study area. Appearance is the first rank as selection criteria for male and female in all studies area. About 47.8% of the respondents have their own buck. The main use of breeding buck in the study area was for mating purpose (76.2%). Mean estimate of effective population size and mean rate of inbreeding was 2.43 and 0.21, respectively when a household flock is herded alone and under random mating. Therefore, any breed improvement strategies that are intended to be implemented in the study area and else- where should consider the traditional breeding practices and breeding objectives of the community

Low Utilization of Partograph and Its Associated Factors among Obstetric Care Providers in Governmental Health Facilities at West Shoa Zone, Central Ethiopia

Background. Globally, prolonged and obstructed labors were among the common causes of maternal morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries including Ethiopia. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the routine use of partograph as a key intervention to avoid prolonged and obstructed labor. Despite the recommendation, studies indicated that the partograph utilization among obstetric care providers (OCPs) is still low. Therefore, this study is aimed at assessing the level of utilization of partograph and associated factors among obstetric care providers working at health facilities in the West Shoa Zone, Central Ethiopia 2019. Methods. Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from February 1st to 22nd March 2019. A computer-generated simple random sampling technique was used to select 325 study subjects. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire and using an observational checklist. Additionally, 200 partograph charts were reviewed. Both bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to determine the association. Results. A total of 322 obstetric care providers were included in the study, giving a response rate of 99.1%. The level of partograph utilization in the study area was revealed to be 31.1% (95% CI: 25.97-36.13). Only 3% of the reviewed partograph was recorded according to the recommended standard. In this study attending training (AOR=3.94, 95% CI: 1.99-7.78), availability of partograph (AOR=5.23, 95% CI: 1.69-16.22), perceived as not time-consuming task (AOR=3.61, 95% CI: 1.19-10.96), adequate number of OCPs available (AOR=2.92, 95% CI: 1.16-7.33), presence of supervision (AOR=4.35, 95% CI: 2.11-8.97), having a positive attitude (AOR=2.48, 95% CI: 1.23-5.02), availability of standard protocol in a health facility (AOR=4.71, 95% CI: 2.31-9.60), and lack of commitment (AOR=0.32, 95% CI: 0.16-0.63) were factors significantly associated with partograph utilization. Conclusion and Recommendation. Partograph utilization in the study area was found to be low. Almost all reviewed partograph charts were not recorded as to the recommended standard. Attending training, availability of partograph, perceived as it is not time-consuming, the available number of OCPs, presence of supervision, having a positive attitude, available standard protocol, and commitment were factors associated with partograph utilization. Therefore, all concerned stakeholders should emphatically consider those identified factors for intervention

Morphological diversities and ecozones of Ethiopian horse populations

Using standard survey approaches, we carried out a nationwide survey to morphologically characterize and identify ecozones of Ethiopian horse populations. Accordingly, we explored one new feral horse population previously unreported and seven other distinct horse populations. A total of 17 selected morphological variables were recorded on 503 horses (293 stallions and 210 mares) that belong to five out of eight identified horse populations. Pair-wise multiple mean comparisons (PMMC) using one-way analysis of variance and multivariate analyses were performed separately for each sex and least-squares means was used in the case of aggregated sexes. Results of PMMC showed that there were significant differences (P < 0.05) between the means for most of the variables recorded. Principal component analysis showed that height at wither, height at back, height at rump, body length, back length and barrel length jointly account for about 80 percent of the variations. All squared Mahalanobis distance between populations were significant (P < 0.01). The greatest phenotypic divergence was observed between Bale and Selale horse populations and the least phenotypic divergence was between Horro and Kafa populations. Canonical discriminant function analysis showed that 77.05 percent of individuals were correctly categorized into their respective populations. Moreover, cluster analysis based on squared Mahalanobis distances grouped the five measured Ethiopian horse populations into three major breed groups and five distinct horse populations

Discordances between morphological systematics and molecular taxonomy in the stem line of equids: A review of the case of taxonomy of genus Equus

This paper revises the evolutionary history of the stem root of the genus Equus from Eocene period (54 million years before present, MYBP) to present. It also assesses molecular taxonomy and evolutionary relationships of this line since the first appearance of fossil records in terrestrial deposits. Combining these two lines of evidences, we outline a more informative and consensus phylogeny in a more understandable context. We also compare and contrast evolutionary histories and phylogenetic relationships of equids inferred from paleontological as well as varieties of molecular data and their implications. Using pair-wise coalescence time estimates, we draw a consensus speciation order in the stem root of the genus Equus. With the help of molecular data, we suggest the reasons for enigmatic speciation events between asses and zebras as well as the backgrounds for genetic dissimilarities between hemiones of Asia and asses of Africa regardless their phenotypic similarities. Based on the evidences from molecular data and review of late Pleistocene megafauna extinction in the Americas, we believe that horses were certainly domesticated in the Eurasian Steppe or elsewhere that survived late Pleistocene megafauna's extinction than in the Americas. We discuss the true wild horse that was involved in horse domestication processes in line with recent evidences that unraveled multi-geographic origins and multi-maternal lineages in the present day domestic horses

Genetic diversity and matrilineal genetic signature of native Ethiopian donkeys (Equus asinus) inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence polymorphism

We investigated mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence polymorphism of six morphologically diverse domestic donkey (Equus asinus) populations in Ethiopia. These populations include: Abyssinian (AB), Afar (AF), Hararghe (HR), Ogaden (OG), Omo (OM) and Sinnar (SI). Genetic relationships and other diversity parameters were inferred from 39 randomly selected mtDNA D-loop partial sequences, characterized by 29 polymorphic sites defining 19 distinct haplotypes. Moreover, haplotype and nucleotide diversity in Ethiopian donkey populations were 0.903±0.032 and 0.020±0.003, respectively. A network analysis produced moderate star-like patterns suggesting past population demographic and spatial expansion. Population subdivision estimates demonstrated that Sinnar donkeys are considerably divergent from the other donkey populations. To trace the matrilineal genetic origin of Ethiopian donkeys, we retrieved 221 previously published domestic donkeys' mtDNA D-loop sequences from the GenBank (146 from Chinese and 75 from worldwide domestic donkeys). The haplogroup derived from the Ethiopian sources formed the center of the network from which most of the worldwide domestic donkey populations emerged. This suggests that Ethiopia could be one of the centers of diversities for domestic donkeys in the Horn of Africa. The present study also overrides some previous reports that claims donkeys were solely an Egyptian domesticate