ESTIMATION OF GENETIC PARAMETERS IN UNN CATTLE POPULATION

Abstract

This study was conducted to estimate the variance components and heritability for birthweight and weaning weight, as well as the genetic and phenotypic correlations between these traits in N‘dama and Muturu crosses at the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) cattle herd. The study lasted for 6 months and the heritability and genetic correlation of the traits were estimated using Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) method of SAS mixed model. The direct heritability estimates obtained were 0.15±0.05 and 0.45±0.05 for birth weight and weaning weight respectively. The direct genetic correlation between the two traits was positive (0.53) between birth weights and weaning weights.