Genetic and phenotypic parameter estimates for growth traits of Hainan Black goat in southern China

Genetic improvement of the growth of Hainan Black goats is a major concern as the breed is an important meat-type goat raised in southern China. To estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for growth traits for this breed, a population of 1354 Hainan Black goats born and maintained at the Hainan Black Goat Breeding Farm from 2007 to 2011 was used. Heritabilities and phenotypic and genetic correlations for bodyweights (BWs) at birth and at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 months of age (denoted as BW0, BW2, BW4, BW6, BW8, BW10 and BW12, respectively) and average daily weight gains (ADGs) from birth to 2 months, from 2 to 6 months, and from 6 to 12 months (denoted as ADG0-2, ADG2-6 and ADG6-12, respectively) were estimated using an animal model, with and without a permanent maternal environmental effect fitted as a random effect. Litter size, kidding year, birth season and sex, as well as their interactions, were investigated as fixed effects. Likelihood ratio testing indicated that the model with a permanent maternal environmental effect was better than that without a permanent maternal environmental effect for all traits. The direct additive heritability for BW and ADG ranged from 0.17 (ADG6-12) to 0.45 (BW0), indicating that growth traits of Hainan Black goats can be improved by phenotypic selection. Maternal permanent environmental variance was also estimated and varied from 0.08 (BW6) to 0.27 (BW10). The genetic and phenotypic correlations among ADG traits were positive and relatively low. However, the positive and relatively high genetic and phenotypic correlations among BW traits indicated that breeding programs are able to use selection at early ages to improve BW traits.