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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">AAB</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>Archives Animal Breeding</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">AAB</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">Arch. Anim. Breed.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">2363-9822</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>FBN Dummerstorf</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/aab-53-689-2010</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Estimates of (co)variance function for growth to yearling in Horro sheep of Ethiopia using random regression model</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Abegaz</surname>
<given-names>S.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>van Wyk</surname>
<given-names>J. B.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Olivier</surname>
<given-names>J. J.</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Institute of Biodiversity Conservation, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Department of Animal, Wildlife and Grassland Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa,</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Irene Animal Improvement Institute, Stellenbosch, South Africa</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>10</day>
<month>10</month>
<year>2010</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>53</volume>
<issue>6</issue>
<fpage>689</fpage>
<lpage>700</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2010 S. Abegaz et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2010</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/53/689/2010/aab-53-689-2010.html">This article is available from https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/53/689/2010/aab-53-689-2010.html</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/53/689/2010/aab-53-689-2010.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://aab.copernicus.org/articles/53/689/2010/aab-53-689-2010.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Random regression analyses of weight data from birth to 396 days were done using 22 141
weight records of 1 951 Horro lambs. Six different models formed from three different
orthogonal polynomial regressions (legendre scale)orders (quadratic, cubic, quartic) of fit
for both additive genetic and animals’ permanent environmental effects, with assumption
of either homogeneous or heterogeneous residual variance, were compared. Fixed effects of
year and type of birth, sex and age of dam were fitted along with a fourth order polynomial.
Both likelihood ratio test (LRT) and Akaike&apos;s Information Criterion (AIC) were used for model
comparison. Model fit improved with increased order of polynomial and assumption
of heterogeneity of residual variance. Components for additive genetic and permanent
environmental (co)variance increased from 0.03 and 0.09 at birth to 23.8 and 37.6 at 396 days
of age, respectively. The first three eigenvalues of the coefficient matrix of the additive genetic
covariance accounted for about 98 % of the sum of all the eigenvalues. Heritability estimates
have shown a declining and increasing trend at different parts of the trajectory, the lowest
estimate being 0.14 for weight at birth while the highest being 0.36 for weight at about 390
days of age. Higher heritability estimates in previous uni- and bi-variate models and in the
current study and also strong correlation with weight at early age makes weight at one year of
age the most important trait to consider in improving productivity in Horro sheep.</p>
</abstract>
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</article-meta>
</front>
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