Modern pig breeds in Europe owe their origin to a mixture of Asian and European breeds and types. They evolved during the past two hundred years, and developed particular breed characteristics by the application of breed standards, which included specific reference to colour. DNA markers at two coat colour loci provide the potential for accurate breed assignation for wild boar, Berkshire and Tamworth breeds, and may also offer the potential to develop simple tools for the verification of the origin of pork products. The use of polymorphisms in genes determining coat colour is used to explore this potential in terms of breed identification for conservation of animal genetic resources, and product traceability for quality assurance.

Des ségrégations de la livrée ont été analysées sur des données de F1 et de back-cross sur les pères de races à viande phæomélaniques (Charolaise et Limousine) et phæomélaniques à extrémités eumélaniques dites PEE (Piémontaise, Chianine, Marchienne et Romagnole) accouplés à des femelles eumélaniques noir (Holstein Frisonne Italienne).

Les ségrégations sont interprétées en termes d'allèles au locus Extension E avec les quatre allèles ED,Er ,E et El, au locus Dilution Charolais DC avec les allèles DCD et DC+, au locus Albinos C avec les allèles C+ et Cch et au locus Spotting S avec les allèles S+ et Ss

Parfois il faut faire appel à des pénétrance incomplètes.

The aim of this study was to characterise the Polish Red cattle breed, the only existing native breed in Poland. The origin and conformation of this breed and its historical development, distribution and performance were described. Moreover, the attention was paid to the attempts to improve the breed milk performance by crossbreeding with Jersey, Danish Red and Angler and beef performance by crossbreeding with Black-and-White, Red-and-White, Simmental and beef bulls.

Before the Second World War the Polish Red held the rank of an international breed, and since the middle of the previous century had been found almost throughout Poland. In the 1950s it still constituted 22% of the whole cattle population in Poland. Indeed in 1954 the Polish Red cattle population amounted to over 1.5 million head. Currently, Polish Red cattle are in danger of extinction. Only 300 cows are included in the Program of Genetic Resources Conservation and scarcely several hundred embryos and semen doses are stored in the Semen Bank of the National Research Institute of Animal Production in Balice.

In 2001 the number of recorded Polish Red milking cows was 1 201. Their average performance amounted to 3 786 kg of milk with 4.26% of fat and 3.39% of protein. However, milk yield of the cows at the best farms exceeded 5 500 kg.

The Kerry is the most numerous of the three surviving indigenous breeds of cattle in Ireland. With a total population currently under a thousand animals it is listed as endangered in the World Watch list. Conservation efforts currently focus on both in situ and ex situ conservation. This approach is possible because of the existence of a few enthusiastic pedigree breeders, a breed society and a herdbook with registrations dating back to the 19th century. The Kerry cattle population is small with overlapping generations. The main objective in its conservation is to minimise inbreeding and conserve genetic variation. The Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) was recently mandated to support and co-ordinate the conservation efforts which are centred around minimum coancestry selection, a mating advisory service, semen and embryo cryoconservation. To this end, a mean relationship system was developed for the routine computation of inbreeding and provision of a mating advisory system. Four bulls are identified annually for semen collection and storage. A second scheme aims to identify 15 cows for embryo cryoconservation over a three-year period. Future conservation efforts will benefit from the collation of Kerry cattle breeding and production information in a central database. This and a study of the dynamics of the Kerry cattle population are future priorities for ICBF in an effort to prevent the extinction of the Kerry cattle.

En la última década del siglo XV comenzó la colonización americana y terminó la conquista de las Islas Canarias. El carácter insular de paso obligatorio en las rutas colombinas hizo que ambos territorios se vincularan estrechamente y compartieran uno de los pilares básicos de la economía de aquella época: la ganadería. En este trabajo se presenta una revisión bibliográfica de carácter histórico y zootécnico de la cual se desprende que las razas caprinas de origen africano en Canarias no solo tuvieron una importante influencia en la constitución del mosaico racial americano sino que, además, comienzan a ser demandadas en esas áreas debido a sus características rústicas y productivas.

On-station characterisation of indigenous Menz (n = 1 639) and Horro (n = 1 135) sheep of Ethiopia in the central highlands of the country was undertaken between 1992 and 1997 at the Debre Berhan Research Station of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to study the phenotypic characteristics of the breeds. Body weights, linear body measurements, and testicular parameters were studied. The traits studied were live body weights (LWT), body length (BL), heart girth (HG), height at withers (WH), pelvic width (PW), chest depth (CD), distance between last rib and tuber coxae (DLP-ATR), scrotal circumference (SC), testicular diameter (TD), testicular length (TL), and epididymal tail diameter (ED). All except LWT (which was also measured at birth) were measured at 3, 12 and 24 months age. Fixed effects included in the analyses were breed, sex, birth type, birth season, birth year, and significant first-order interactions.

The Horro sheep had significantly (P<0.05) larger LWT at all ages than the Menz by as much as 6 to 18%. In both breeds, lambs born single were significantly (P<0.05) heavier than those born as twins or triplets. In all age categories and both breeds, males were consistently heavier and larger in size than females. Except for lambs of 3 months of age, the Horro sheep had larger (at least P<0.05) testicular measurements than Menz for all age categories.

Pashmina, internationally known as “cashmere”, a fine luxury fibre, is being produced from Changthangi goats bred in the Ladakh region of India. The Leh district of Greater Ladakh produces around 30 000 kg of pashmina fibre which is harvested from about 0.15 million Changthangi goats reared by the Changpa nomads in Changthang region of Greater Ladakh. Changthangi goats are sometimes also called Changra goats. Pashmina producing goats are of great importance for revitalising the economy of the poverty stricken region of Changthang and the Leh district of Ladakh. The information on Changthangi goats was collected from both small and large-scale farmers in Ladakh, and 337 animals were included in the study.

The body colour of Changthangi goats varies from white to light brown and nearly whole body is covered with pashmina and long hairs. The average birth weights of male and female kids were estimated as 2.11 ± 0.3 and 2.06 ± 0.2 kg, respectively while weight at 300 days was found to be 20.0 ± 2.1 and 18.7 ± 1.9 kg in male and females respectively.

The pashmina yields of bucks, does, male hoggets and female hoggets were estimated as 402 ± 19 g, 248 ± 14 g, 255 ± 12 and 280 ± 16 g, respectively. The length of pashmina fibre was found to be 4.25 ± 1.2 cm in males and 4.02 ± 1.5 cm in females while fibre diameter in male and female goats was estimated as 12.9 ± 2.6 μ and 13.0 ± 3.0 μ, respectively.

The twining rate was found to be very low, nearly 0.3%. A preliminary study at DNA level with PCR-RFLP indicated monomorphism at the growth hormone gene. The occurrence of disease was quite low although some genetic deformities in this breed were not uncommon.

The paper presents milk production results in a domestic Balkan goat breed reared in the north-western region of the Sharplanina massif. A characteristic of the domestic Balkan goat is that it is reared under poor conditions where other domestic animals can not find enough food to survive. These goats have a strong constitution, are robust and resistent to contagious and parasitic diseases, tolerant to hot, arid climate, and have modest nutritional requirements. The entire body (except the nose, hoofs, and lower portion of the tail) is covered by hair. Hair color varies. Most often it is reddish or gray, but can also be black, as well as chestnut, brown, patchy, and seldom, white. Body size increases with age, due to the fact that the domestic Balkan goat matures late, reaching full size at about 4 years of age. Mean values for height at withers and body length in mature goats were 66 and 70 cm, respectively. Lactation duration was 238 days, total milk production 178 kg per lactation, milk fat 3.68%. An average of 1.2 kids are obtained per goat annualy. Poor fertility of the domestic Balkan goat is caused by numerous reasons, mainly poor nutrition.