This study aimed at comparing data obtained from Azawak zebu colostrum with literature data. The comparison was performed by a meta-analytical approach. Colostrum samples were hand-collected after 5 h from seven Azawak cows at calving between August 27 and September 10, 2009 in the Sahel. For data from literature, 21 references were identified in the following analytical databases: PubMed, Science Direct, Google scholar, Collection from University of Liege. The references were selected according to the following two criteria: (i) only studies reported on bovine colostrum were used irrespective of breeds, and (ii) among the selected studies, those not providing complete information to allow meta-analytical calculation were excluded. Samples were analysed for immunoglobulins (IgG, IgM and IgA), lactoferrin and chemical composition (dry mater, protein, fat, lactose, ash, Ca, P, NA, K and Mg). The mean levels of IgG, IgM, dry matter, protein and fat for Azawak cows were lower (P < 0.001) than those obtained in other breeds; however, colostrum from the Azawak was higher in IgA but the difference was not significant. For lactose and ash, mean values for Azawak cows were higher (P < 0.001) than those from the literature. Contents of Ca, P, Na and Mg in Azawak bovine colostrum were significantly higher (P < 0.001) than the mean levels in form the literature data. In conclusion, the colostrum from Azawak cows appears to be lower in most immunoglobulins, in fat and in protein than the values reported in the literature, but higher in lactose and minerals. This could be an adaptation to Sahelian constraints.

The genetic structure and diversity of nine ganadarias (the Portuguese word for bull farmer) of the Portuguese “Brava de Lide” (Bullfighting) breed were assessed with 30 microsatellites. Allelic richness per locus was low, with an overall average of 2 547. The mean number of alleles corrected for the size of the smaller sample ranged between 2,4 in ganadaria Jorge Mendes and 1,9 in ganadaria Vaz Monteiro. The mean expected and observed heterozygosities ranged between 0.627 in ganadaria Palha and 0.461 in ganadaria Vaz Monteiro and between 0.617 in ganadaria Cabral D'Ascension and 0.4485 in ganadaria Vaz Monteiro, respectively. The ganadaria Vaz Monteiro was the one that systematically showed the lowest values of genetic diversity. To analyse the substructure among the 51 animals studied, a factorial correspondence analysis and a Bayesian approach were performed using the Genetix and STRUCTURE programs, respectively. The outcome of the factorial correspondence analysis resulted in the formation of four well-defined clusters. On the other hand, the analysis with the STRUCTURE program has allowed us to obtain six well-defined clusters. One well-defined cluster corresponded to the oldest Portuguese ganadaria, the Vaz Monteiro. This ganadaria was established, at its inception in 1843, with bulls and cows of pure Portuguese caste and has been kept in the same family owing to its formation without the introduction of any other blood, constituting a unique caste that must be preserved, which is the true offspring of the Portuguese cattle breed “Brava de Lide”. In turn, the other clusters formed corresponded to the ganadarias Mario Vinhas, Murteira Grave, Nuno Casquinha, Palha and Jorge Carvalho.

The study was conducted in Gamo Goffa Zone of Southern Ethiopia to characterize traditional cattle breeding practices and cattle trait preferences of the Gamo Highland and Gamo Lowland cattle types. Data collected through group discussions and individual interviews were synthesized and summarized using descriptive statistics. Indigenous cattle in the study area provide multiple functions, are well adapted to their production environments, and managed under traditional and subsistent modes of production. Farmers' cattle trait preferences slightly differ across highland and lowland sites. Whereas lowland farmers prefer carcass yield and traction capacity, cattle farmers in highland areas give more weight to adaptation, milk production and manure contributions. Common breeding system in all sites was pure breeding, although very few farmers residing in mid and highland areas exercise crossbreeding with introduced Holstein Friesian bulls for dairy improvement. The main reported selection criteria of farmers for breeding their animals were body size and conformation, milk production, fertility and breeding history of animals. Cattle breeding and management practices of the study area are traditional and low input.

This paper describes some of the morphological characteristics of the Tunisian native goat. Data were collected on 1 247 goats from 202 holdings in two oases areas (Jerid and Nefzawa). These included body length, heart girth, height at withers, ear length, horn and hairs length, as well as qualitative characters such as colour, and the presence or absence of horns, wattles and beard, ears type and curling, horns form, hair type and the facial profile. Quantitative variables were then submitted to a principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce data dimensionality and enable discrimination of groups by individuals and populations. The multiple correspondence analysis was used with qualitative variables to allow further distinction within subpopulations. A discriminant canonical analysis was also conducted discrimination between subpopulations. Wither height, heart girth and ear length were the most determinant traits in differentiating between subpopulations with the PCA. The parameters that best segregate the subpopulations in the multiple correspondences analysis are the hair length and the subpopulation. Therefore, multivariate analyses were useful in the morphological characterization of the native goat from Tunisian oases. Canonical analyses showed that hair length, ear length and wither height are the best linear measurements for discrimination between goat subpopulations. The largest Mahalanobis distance was between Arbi Jerid and Serti Nefzawa goats, whereas the closest distance was between Serti Jerid and Serti Nefzawa subpopulations.

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was carried out using 38 Kalahari Red (KR) goats randomly sampled from a flock imported into Nigeria in 2011 by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, as an initial step to investigate the genetic structure of the breed, due to limited information on the breed. Apart from estimating genetic diversities, phylogenetic analysis to elucidate maternal lineages, relationship with wild goats as well as Tajima's D and Fu's Fs statistics were computed to test the departure from constant population size under the neutral model. The first hypervariable (HV1) region of mtDNA (481 bp) sequenced from 38 goats represented 11 haplotypes. Polymorphism of HV1 fragment was high, haplotype and nucleotide diversities were 0.869 ± 0.030 and 0.0299 ± 0.0067, respectively. Maximum-likelihood tree constructed with 11 haplotypes and 22 reference haplotypes representing six haplogroups worldwide revealed that five out of 11 haplotypes belong to haplogroup A, whereas six haplotypes belong to B. KR population clustered with Capra aegagrus as its wild ancestor. There was evidence of mitochondrial footprint that reflected past population decline based on positive and significant Fu's Fs estimate (6.283; P < 0.01). The mtDNA data did not however show that genetic variability of the breed has drastically reduced on account of population reduction. The information obtained is strategic to utilization and conservation of the population.

India is a rich repository of goat genetic resources having 23 well-recognized goat breeds. These breeds have evolved through natural selection and selective breeding by rearers for adaptation to specific agro-ecological conditions. As the indigenous goat breeds of India display great variation in adaptability, productivity, feed utilization, disease resistance, etc. so conservation for unique characteristics of indigenous breeds are of great importance. The recognized breeds of Indian goat population are facing a greater threat due to lack of enforcement of proper breeding policy, inadequate number of breeding bucks, indiscriminate crossbreeding and intermixing among breeds with local animals etc. Considering the current population size, declining rate of population, loss of habitat and introduction of other breeds in the area, the threatened goat breeds are Jamunapari, Beetal, Jakhrana and Surti in the northwestern region, Sangamneri, Osmanabadi, Malabari and Attappady Black in the southern region, Ganjam in the eastern region, and Chegu and Changthangi in the temperate Himalayan region. Furthermore, the positions of several breeds are more or less vulnerable in their breeding tracts. Now, efforts have been made to conserve the indigenous goat breeds for their unique characteristics in their home tracts through in-situ and ex-situ conservation in different agroclimatic regions of India.

The usefulness of correlation analysis in life sciences is enhanced when the coefficient is partitioned into direct effects of one trait on the other and indirect effects caused by other characters which may be of importance in selection. A total of 417 mature (>22 months) West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep comprising of 201 rams and 216 ewes intensively reared were used for this study. Data were taken on body weight (BW) and 19 linear conformation traits. Linear body measurements considered were rump width (RW), rump length (RL), tail length (TL), wither height (WH),thorax depth (TD), shin circumference (SC), heart girth (HG), paunch girth (PG), rump height (RH), ear length (EL), fore-leg length (FLL), rear-leg length (RLL), body length (BL), shoulder width (SW), neck circumference (NC), head length (HL), head width (HW), horn length (HoL) and hock length (Hock). Descriptive statistics and path coefficients were computed. Correlation analysis was also explored to determine the degree of association among variables. Sexual dimorphism was observed in all traits considered (p < 0.05), except RL. Large coefficients of variation were obtained for BW, PG and NC relative to other traits considered. All linear traits had significantly positive (p < 0.05) correlations with BW in both sexes. The ranges of correlation between BW and all linear body parameters were, 0.227–0.726 and 0.183–0.878 in rams and ewes, respectively. The highest correlations with BW in rams and ewes were obtained for HG and NC, respectively. Significant path coefficients were obtained for HG and TD in rams while HG, FLL, PG, NC and RL had significant (p < 0.05) path coefficients in ewes. Though many predictor variables were considered in this study, it was concluded that HG contributed most to the coefficient of determination in both sexes. Moreover, all other predictor variables with similar (p > 0.05) path coefficients had high correlations with BW, their indirect effects were obtained mostly through HG.

As part of the global sheep Hapmap project, 24 individuals from each of seven indigenous Swiss sheep breeds (Bundner Oberländer sheep (BOS), Engadine Red sheep (ERS), Swiss Black-Brown Mountain sheep (SBS), Swiss Mirror sheep (SMS), Swiss White Alpine (SWA) sheep, Valais Blacknose sheep (VBS) and Valais Red sheep (VRS)), were genotyped using Illumina's Ovine SNP50 BeadChip. In total, 167 animals were subjected to a detailed analysis for genetic diversity using 45 193 informative single nucleotide polymorphisms. The results of the phylogenetic analyses supported the known proximity between populations such as VBS and VRS or SMS and SWA. Average genomic relatedness within a breed was found to be 12 percent (BOS), 5 percent (ERS), 9 percent (SBS), 10 percent (SMS), 9 percent (SWA), 12 percent (VBS) and 20 percent (VRS). Furthermore, genomic relationships between breeds were found for single individuals from SWA and SMS, VRS and VBS as well as VRS and BOS. In addition, seven out of 40 indicated parent–offspring pairs could not be confirmed. These results were further supported by results from the genome-wide population cluster analysis. This study provides a better understanding of fine-scale population structures within and between Swiss sheep breeds. This relevant information will help to increase the conservation activities of the local Swiss sheep breeds.

The Andaman & Nicobar Islands are a group of 572 large and small islands & islets in the southeastern part of the Bay of Bengal. This preliminary study reports on husbandry practices and phenotypic characterization of indigenous Nicobari pig, in its home tract (Nicobar group of islands). A total of 377 families were surveyed in randomly selected villages on Car Nicobar, Nancowrie, Teressa, Katchal and Chowra islands. Results of the study revealed that Nicobari pigs were mostly semi feral in nature and reared under a free range system. Pigs were fed mainly with coconut and other locally available resources. The Nicobari pigs appeared short with long body. They showed high prolificacy with an average litter size of 8–10 numbers. These pigs were considered as a family asset among the Nicobari tribe. No commercial farms and slaughter was practiced by the tribes. It is concluded that the Nicobari pigs are considered as an indigenous pig breed/germplasm (Sus scrofa Nicobaricus) belonging to this island territory. Owing to its adaptation and performance under resource-driven island ecosystem, Nicobari pig warrants conservation and improvement. In addition, genetic characterization this pig using SNP would help to confirm their genetic distinctiveness and recognition as a new breed for conservation and sustainable utilization.

The guinea pig is a rodent mammal native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia in the Andes, where it has always had a close relationship with the pre-Inca people, either as a food source, high in protein and low in fat or as an animal associated with traditions maintained to the present day. Since ancient times, guinea pig breeding has traditionally been carried out in small spaces inside the kitchens of rural farming families, near the stove. To meet rural households' need for income, a commercial production system has been established and has introduced improved strains/breeds which have spread throughout the Andean region, almost completely absorbing the native guinea pig. On the other hand, since the sixteenth century the guinea pig has gained in popularity around the world as a pet, for exhibition purposes, or as a laboratory animal. In this paper, a literature review has been undertaken to compile and disclose the main issues concerning the guinea pig and the Andean population, with the aim of creating awareness of the importance of conserving local genetic resources and providing a starting point for future research.

Egg quality traits of local Ghanaian chickens from two agro-ecological zones were measured and compared with those of an imported breed, SASSO T44 chickens from the day of lay to a period of 21 days in storage. On the average SASSO T44 chickens had significantly (P < 0.05) higher egg weight, shell weight, albumen height (AH), albumen weight, yolk weight, albumen ratio and Haugh units (HU). Eggs of the local chicken ecotypes had significantly (P < 0.05) higher yolk ratios than the SASSO T44 birds with chickens from the forest zone being superior (P < 0.05) to those from the savannah in AH. Fluctuations in egg quality traits during the 3-week study period were similar in the three ecotypes studied. Conversion of AH to HU narrowed the gap in egg quality performance between local and SASSO T44 chickens. There was a negative effect of storage time on egg quality irrespective of the chicken ecotype. It was recommended that chicken eggs should be kept at temperatures cooler than ambient temperatures to minimize deterioration of their quality.

The objective of this study was to characterize the native chickens reared in three agro-ecological zones of Southeastern Oromia Regional State of Ethiopia. Data on visual appraisal and linear body measurements were obtained from a total of 600 matured local chickens of both sexes drawn from 240 households. The results indicated that the average flock size, age at first egg of hens and eggs produced per clutch were 11.9 heads, 6.2 months and 15.4 eggs, respectively. The majority of the male chicken possessed snake head shape (60.7 percent) and most of them had rose combs (57.9 percent), red feather plumage (46.1 percent), yellow shanks (86.3 percent), red earlobes (84.2 percent) and yellow skin (56.8 percent). Majority of the hens possessed single combs (43.5 percent), red earlobes (77.3 percent), yellow shanks (44.4 percent), yellowish brown feather (27.4 percent) followed by red (24.2 percent) and black (21.2 percent). The cocks were generally heavier (1.39 kg) than the hens (1.22 kg). The average values for breast angle (degrees), body length, body width, shank length, shank circumference, keel bone length, wing span, comb length and beak length of the cocks were 45.9, 24.1, 24.9, 7.43, 3.86, 9.63, 7.99, 4.86 and 1.91 cm, respectively. The corresponding values for the hens were 40.2, 22.7, 23.8, 7.43, 3.46, 8.95, 7.40, 2.47 and 1.71. The values for wing span, comb length, beak length, body weight, breast angle and keel bone length differed (P < 0.05) across the agro-ecologies. The best predictor for assessing the body weight of hens was breast angle and body length, whereas in the cocks it was best estimated using breast angle and shank circumference values. The present study suggests that indigenous chickens in the study area possess useful economic traits that could be improved through systematic breeding for enhanced productivity under scavenging production systems.

This study characterized indigenous chicken (IC) ecotypes morphologically. Five IC ecotypes studied were Kakamega (KK), Siaya (BN), West Pokot (WP), Narok (NR) and Bomet (BM). Data on morphological features were collected from 1 580 chickens and 151 for zoometric measurements. Descriptive statistics, non-parametric and F tests were used in analysis. A non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis, Binomial test and Mann–Whitney U test was used to evaluate whether the ecotype have effects on the qualitative morphological variables. Zoometric measurements was analysed with the PROC GLM of SAS. Results revealed that, black, black-white striped, brown and red body plumage colours were significantly different (P < 0.05) between the ecotypes. Feather morphology (%) were not significantly different (P > 0.05). Distribution of body feathers (%), comb types (%) and zoometric measurements were significantly different (P < 0.05). Eye colours varied significantly (P < 0.001) within the ecotypes unlike between the populations. In conclusion, IC ecotypes studied are heterogeneous population with huge variability in morphological features.

Genetic improvement of farm animals encompasses both mating and selection for desired traits and indigenous chicken genetic resources are no exception. In Kenya, previous attempts to genetically improve indigenous chicken involved cross-breeding scheme by utilizing cockerels and pullets of exotic breeds with the local indigenous chicken. This scheme was complimented with farmer training on good management practices and vaccination for disease control. The scheme was partially successful with improved performance in the crossbreds that declined with subsequent generations. Failure of the programme to meet stakeholder's expectation led to its’ termination. The current attempt through the Smallholder Indigenous Chicken Improvement Programme has initiated an holistic and comprehensive approach to analysing the entire indigenous chicken actors and avert the causes of previous failures. The programme has genetically and phenotypically characterized the chicken; established reference/base population collected from different ecotypes/counties, established the breeding goals and designed breeding programmes that best suit the Kenyan stakeholders. The on-station research has reported variation on production traits, determined heritability estimate on growth. Current and ongoing research is focused on molecular characterization, selection for improved immune response, carcass quality, eggs production, growth and adaptation traits. The research is also concerned with conservation of these genetic resources.