Need and methods of gene conservation in animal breeding

International audienc

History, recent development and uses of Finnsheep

The use of Finnsheep (F) as experimental animals on fertility has created interest in the origin of it and its prolificacy. Linguistic and archeological evidence indicate that wool has been used in Finland for 2 000 years and that sheep have been kept for over 1 000 years. The ancestors of F may have arrived either with Finns from the present Russia, where the short-tailed and prolific Romanov breed is found, or with Vikings or western settlers from Scandinavia, where there also are short-tailed breeds. Finnish terms concerning weaving (mainly Slavic loans) speak for the former, the sheep husbandry terms (mainly Germanic loans) for the latter source. In the 16th and 18th centuries, foreign breeds were imported to western Finland, but they were not accepted by farmers. When animals from northeastern Finland were mainly used as foundations for the herd book work, the present F may stem mainly from the original stock. The breed has long been kept in small flocks and thus been subject of inbreeding and weak selection. Since the establishment of herd book and production recording the live and fleece weights as well as litter sizes have increased. Wool was the main product until the 1920’s, but meat has been most important during the last 60 years, excepting war times. Presently one aims at effective utilization of its versatility, i.e. for meat, handicraft wool, luxury furs, and forest and landscape management

Many-sided progeny testing of bulls

International audienc

Development of the coefficient of inbreeding and relationship in the finnish ayrshire breed

International audienc

A cheap method of progeny testing a.i. bulls for milk protein

International audienc

Possibilities of developing sheep which suckle from several teats

Because of the increasing need for ewes which can rear more than two lambs adequately and without shepherding, studies were made in Finland (F), New Zealand (N. Z.) and Ireland on criteria relating the development of such ewes. The Finnish study was based on small trials in 1963—66 and in 1985—88 and on field data from the 1980’s. Data of Vainikainen (1945) was also used. In N.Z., a more systematic experiment has been carried out since 1984, while in Ireland a small study of teat parameters was made in 1985. The frequency of ewes with supernumerary teats (ST) in Finnsheep and Coopworth was ca. 20 %. The frequency of six-teated animals increased with selection for teat number. In Finland, about ½ of the 4-teated ewes had milk-yielding STs. Six-teated ewes in N.Z. gave 30—40 % of their daily milk from the STs. The N.Z. Coopworths seemed to have a »multiple lamb image»; multiple lambs tended to be closely bonded and sucked together, leading to higher success rates than when sucking individually. Heritability of teat number in N.Z. was 0.6. The lengths of STs were more variable than those of main teats, and their mean length ca. half of that of main teats. The average distance of STs from the main teats in Finnish trials was ca. 20 mm (range 1—50mm); the length and separation of teat pairs were correlated, although this was not the case in several flocks studied in Ireland

Pathogenic Yersinia and Listeria monocytogenes in organic pork production

The goal of this study is to determine the prevalence of pathogenic Yersinia and Listeria monocytogenes in organic pork production and assess risks in different steps of the pork production chain