A method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep

Abstract

The application discloses a snowflake meat sheep breeding method and relates to the technical field of animal breeding. The breeding method comprises the following steps: taking a hollow sheep as a female parent, taking an Australian cold sheep male sheep as a male parent, carrying out crossbreeding, and obtaining an Australian cold hollow female sheep group; taking an Australian cold male sheep as a male parent, taking an Australian cold hollow female sheep as a female parent, carrying out crossbreeding, and obtaining a Yellow River estuary meat sheep group; and carrying out crossbreeding and fixing of the male sheep and the female sheep in the Yellow River estuary meat sheep group. The snowflake meat sheep breeding method can improve the reproduction rate, the stress resistance, the growth speed, the carcass quality and the meat quality of the snowflake meat sheep, solves the snowflake variety demand of the development of the meat sheep industry in China, and has good popularization value.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of animal breeding, in particular to a method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep. BACKGROUND

[0002] The Australian cold crossbred sheep utilizes the advantages of the Australian white sheep, such as strong resistance, fast growth rate, good carcass quality and excellent meat quality, and the characteristics of the small-tail Han sheep, such as early maturity, fast growth and development, multiple births, strong adaptability and stable genetic performance, and the Australian cold crossbred sheep has stable genetic performance, good carcass quality and excellent meat quality. The income of the Australian cold crossbred sheep is 4 times that of the small-tail Han sheep, but the lambing and lactation performance still needs to be optimized.

[0003] The Wadi sheep is a local sheep breed growing in the Yellow River Delta region of the northern plain of Shandong Province, mainly distributed in Huimin, Binzhou, Duncheng, Zhanhua and Yangxin counties of Binzhou City, and is a local excellent breed for meat and wool, which has been adapted to grazing in low wetlands for a long time, has strong resistance to coarse feed and strong disease resistance. The Wadi sheep is large in size, strong in body, early in maturity, is a rare four teat ewe at home and abroad, has high reproductive rate (280%, with an average of 5 lambs per year), high lactation performance, excellent meat quality and other characteristics.

[0004] How to reasonably utilize the above sheep breeds, integrate the advantage genes, fully exert the genetic potential of each breed and breed new mutton sheep strains is imminent.

[0005] In view of this, the present application is provided. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application aims to provide a method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep to select new sheep strains. The breeding method provided by the present application can improve the reproductive rate, resistance, growth rate, carcass quality and meat quality of the snowflake mutton sheep.

[0007] The present application is implemented as follows:

[0008] The present application provides a method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep, which utilizes the Wadi sheep as the female parent and the Australian cold sheep as the male parent to crossbreed and obtain an Australian cold Wadi ewe group;

[0009] The present application provides a method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep, which utilizes the Wadi sheep as the female parent and the Australian cold sheep as the male parent to crossbreed and obtain an Australian cold Wadi ewe group;

[0010] The snowflake mutton sheep is selected and obtained by using any one of the following horizontal cross fixation methods:

[0011] (1) horizontally cross and fix the male sheep and the female sheep in the Yellow River estuary mutton sheep group;

[0012] (2) horizontally cross and fix the excellent male sheep of the F2 generation group of the Australian cold sheep and the female sheep of the Yellow River estuary mutton sheep group;

[0013] (3) crossbreed the male sheep of the Yellow River Estuary mutton sheep population with the excellent female sheep of the Australian cold valley F2 population.

[0014] The new variety of snowflake mutton sheep cultivated by the application has the characteristics of feeding mode suitable for the feeding environment in the northern semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas and pastoral areas, strong stress resistance and adaptability, fast growth rate, strong disease resistance, high feed conversion rate, high slaughter rate, excellent meat quality, high lambing rate of ewes, high breeding benefit, low cholesterol content, rich in amino acids required by the human body, and the like.

[0015] Through testing, the birth weight of the snowflake mutton sheep ram lamb selected and bred by the application is 5.2 kg, the birth weight of the ewe lamb is 4.9 kg, the 6-month-old ram lamb weight is 62 kg, the ewe lamb weight is 55 kg, the slaughter rate is 52-58%, and the annual lambing rate of ewes is 150%-200%.

[0016] In other embodiments, after crossbreeding, it further includes: establishing a breeding population through population propagation, selecting the best individuals after the traits of the offspring are basically fixed, and determining various indexes such as body shape, appearance, production performance, and reproductive performance, to finally obtain the new variety of (Yellow River Estuary) snowflake mutton sheep. The application defines the name of the new variety of snowflake mutton sheep as Yellow River Estuary snowflake mutton sheep.

[0017] In an alternative embodiment, the Australian cold sheep male sheep can be obtained from conventional commercial sources.

[0018] The inventors found that in the process of obtaining the Australian cold valley female sheep population, if the Australian cold sheep male sheep is used as the female parent and the valley sheep is used as the male parent for crossbreeding, the reproduction rate of the Australian cold valley offspring cannot be improved. The valley sheep is selected as the female parent because of its multiple birth characteristics, mainly to make the reproduction rate of the Australian cold valley offspring higher.

[0019] In a preferred embodiment of the application, the selection criteria for the male sheep used for crossbreeding include: birth weight ≥ 5.0 kg, 6-month-old weight ≥ 62 kg, and adult weight ≥ 90 kg.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment of the application, the selection criteria for the female sheep used for crossbreeding include: birth weight ≥ 4.6 kg, 6-month-old weight ≥ 55 kg, adult weight ≥ 70 kg, and lambing rate ≥ 150%.

[0021] In a preferred embodiment of the application, the selection criteria for the crossbreeding of the Australian cold ewe sheep in the Yellow River estuary meat sheep population include: birth weight ≥ 5.0 kg, 6-month-old body weight ≥ 55 kg, adult body weight ≥ 70 kg. The Australian cold ewe sheep with fast growth (i.e. to meet the above-mentioned 6-month-old and adult body weight standards) helps to obtain individuals with excellent genetic and various indicators in subsequent crossbreeding. In addition, it should be noted that fast growth in the present application refers to the daily weight gain of sheep during the growth period reaching more than 200 g.

[0022] In a preferred embodiment of the application, the selection criteria for the crossbreeding of the Australian cold ewe sheep in the Yellow River estuary meat sheep population include: birth weight ≥ 5.1 kg, 6-month-old body weight ≥ 55 kg, adult body weight ≥ 70 kg.

[0023] In an alternative embodiment, the selection criteria for the crossbreeding of the Australian cold ewe sheep in the Yellow River estuary meat sheep population include: birth weight ≥ 5.2 kg, 6-month-old body weight ≥ 55 kg, adult body weight ≥ 70 kg.

[0024] The use of the above selection criteria helps to obtain individuals with excellent genetic (including body appearance), production performance, reproductive performance, and other indicators.

[0025] In a preferred embodiment of the application, the crossbreeding is carried out using phenotypic selection and molecular marker assisted methods. The phenotypic selection method is to evaluate and score the overall structure of the germplasm, the appearance of the head and neck, the body, and the reproductive organs, and to select germplasm with higher scores.

[0026] In a preferred embodiment of the application, the crossbreeding is continuously crossbred for 2-5 generations.

[0027] In a preferred embodiment of the application, the Australian cold ram is bred by the following method:

[0028] Binary crossbreeding is carried out using Australian white sheep as the father and small-tailed cold sheep as the mother to obtain an F1 generation of Australian cold meat sheep population; then advanced crossbreeding is carried out using Australian white sheep as the father and female sheep in the F1 generation of Australian cold meat sheep population as the mother to obtain F2 generation of Australian cold ewe sheep.

[0029] In a preferred embodiment of the application, the selection criteria for the female sheep in the F1 generation of Australian cold meat sheep population used to breed F2 generation of Australian cold ewe sheep include: selecting Australian cold female sheep with birth weight greater than 4.8 kg. In other embodiments, female sheep with fast growth are selected to form the F1 generation of Australian cold female sheep for subsequent crossbreeding of F2 generation. For example, female sheep with birth weight greater than 4.9 kg or greater than 5 kg are selected to form the F1 generation of Australian cold female sheep. This selection criterion helps to screen Australian cold sheep with superior body type.

[0030] In the preferable embodiment of the application, the hybridization is a natural mating method or an artificial insemination method. For example, all the test ewes are subjected to vaginal embedding of vaginal suppository (CIDR) and intramuscular injection of cloprostenol (PG) and pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) for synchronization of estrus, and are subjected to artificial insemination.

[0031] In an alternative embodiment, the centralized mating time is 3-5 months and 9-11 months each year.

[0032] The application has the following advantages:

[0033] The application hybridizes the rams in the Australian Merino sheep population with the Valli sheep to obtain Australian Merino Valli ewes, and hybridizes the superior Australian Merino rams with the Australian Merino Valli ewes to obtain the Yellow River Estuary mutton sheep population.

[0034] The superior Yellow River Estuary mutton sheep rams and ewes are crossbred and fixed, and through breeding, a new mutton sheep breed with fast growth and development, strong stress resistance, strong disease resistance, excellent meat quality, strong adaptability and high reproduction rate is bred.

[0035] The application utilizes the advantages of the Australian Merino sheep, such as fast growth, high meat yield, good meat quality, tolerance to coarse feed and strong adaptability, and the advantages of the small-tail Han sheep, such as strong stress resistance, good adaptability and strong constitution, and the advantages of the Valli sheep, such as large individual size, high reproduction rate, good lactation performance and tender meat quality. The new breed of Xuehua mutton sheep obtained by the breeding method of the application has stable genetic performance, good carcass quality, excellent meat quality and high reproduction rate, solves the breed demand of the development of the sheep industry in China, and has good popularization value.

[0036] The new breed of Xuehua mutton sheep bred by the application has the characteristics of feeding mode suitable for the feeding environment in the northern semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral areas and pastoral areas, high feed conversion rate, high slaughter rate, high lambing rate of ewes, high breeding benefit, low cholesterol content of meat and rich in amino acids required by human bodies. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0037] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiments. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some of the embodiments of the application, and therefore should not be regarded as a limitation on the scope, and for those skilled in the art, other related drawings can also be obtained without creative labor on the basis of these drawings.

[0038] Figure 1 The technical roadmap of the breeding method provided by the application is shown in the following figure.

[0039] Figure 2 The comparison figure of the snowflake pattern of the Xuehua mutton sheep and the snowflake pattern of ordinary mutton sheep is provided for Embodiment 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below. If specific conditions are not indicated in the embodiments, conventional conditions or conditions suggested by manufacturers are adopted. If the manufacturers of reagents or instruments are not indicated, all are conventional products that can be purchased in the market.

[0041] The features and performances of the present application are further described in detail below in combination with embodiments.

[0042] Embodiment 1

[0043] This embodiment provides a breeding method of snowflake mutton sheep. In other embodiments, commercially available growth performance Australian cold mutton sheep can also be directly used.

[0044] The flowchart of the breeding method is shown in Figure 1 and specifically includes the following steps:

[0045] (a) Binary cross is performed by taking Australian white sheep as the father and taking small-tail cold sheep as the mother to obtain an F1 generation Australian cold mutton sheep population; in the F1 generation Australian cold mutton sheep population, ewes with birth weight of 4.8 kg or more and fast growth and development are selected to form an F1 generation Australian cold ewe population for subsequent crossbreeding;

[0046] (b) Step-up cross is performed by taking Australian white sheep as the father and taking the F1 generation Australian cold ewe of step (a) as the mother to obtain an F2 generation Australian cold ram population; rams with birth weight of 5.0 kg or more and fast growth and development are selected to form an F2 generation Australian cold sheep population for subsequent crossbreeding;

[0047] (c) Cross is performed by taking Wadi sheep as the mother and taking the F1 generation Australian cold ram of step (a) as the father to obtain an F2 generation Australian cold Wadi ewe population;

[0048] (d) Cross is performed by taking the F2 generation Australian cold ram of step (b) as the father and taking the F2 generation Australian cold Wadi ewe of step (c) as the mother to obtain an F3 generation Yellow River estuary mutton sheep population;

[0049] (e) Excellent ewes and rams in the F3 generation Yellow River estuary mutton sheep population are selected for crossbreeding and fixed, and the crossbreeding and fixed is performed for 2-5 generations; the selection criteria of the rams for crossbreeding and fixed include: birth weight of 5.0 kg or more, 6-month-old weight of 62 kg or more, and adult weight of 90 kg or more; the selection criteria of the ewes for crossbreeding and fixed include: birth weight of 4.6 kg or more, 6-month-old weight of 55 kg or more, adult weight of 70 kg or more, and lambing rate of 150%-200% or more;

[0050] (f) using phenotype selection method and molecular marker assisted method; the phenotype selection method is to evaluate and score according to the overall structure of the germplasm, head and neck, body and appearance of the reproductive organ, and select the germplasm with higher score; the molecular marker assisted method is to use the existing molecular marker of mutton sheep to assist in breeding, and the specific molecular marker used in the embodiment includes the molecular marker gene related to the traits of mutton sheep growth, meat quality and multiple pregnancy;

[0051] (g) population expansion: obtaining a higher number of populations through population expansion.

[0052] The crossbreeding in the embodiment is a method of artificial insemination, and in other embodiments, a method of natural mating can also be used. In the embodiment, all the test ewes are subjected to synchronization of estrus by using vaginal embedding of vaginal suppository (CIDR) and intramuscular injection of cloprostenol (PG) and pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG), and are mated by using artificial insemination technology.

[0053] The centralized mating time is 3-5 months and 9-11 months.

[0054] Embodiment 2

[0055] The birth weight of the male (female) lamb of the Xuehua mutton sheep obtained by the breeding of embodiment 1, the body weight of the 6-month-old male (female) lamb, the dressing percentage of the male sheep, and the lambing rate of the female sheep are tested respectively.

[0056] The birth weight of the male lamb reaches 5.2 kg, the birth weight of the female lamb reaches 4.9 kg, the body weight of the 6-month-old male lamb reaches 58±2.3 kg, the body weight of the female lamb reaches 40±2.7 kg, the dressing percentage of the male sheep is 54±2.6%, and the annual lambing rate of the female sheep is 168±16%.

[0057] Embodiment 3

[0058] The milk production performance and body appearance performance of the Xuehua mutton sheep obtained by the breeding of embodiment 1 are tested.

[0059] Table 1: Body appearance evaluation table

[0060]

[0061] Embodiment 4

[0062] The content of various fatty acids (mg) in 100 g of muscle and the content of cholesterol in 100 g of edible lean meat of the Xuehua mutton sheep obtained by the breeding of embodiment 1 are tested.

[0063] Table 2: Fatty acid content table

[0064]

[0065] The snowflake patterns of the snowflake mutton sheep cultivated in the comparative example 1 and the common sheep are compared, and the snowflake patterns of the snowflake mutton sheep cultivated in the comparative example 1 are obviously different from those of the common sheep. Figure 2 It can be seen that the snowflake pattern of the snowflake mutton sheep cultivated in the example 1 is obviously different from that of the common sheep.

[0066] Experimental example 1

[0067] In this experimental example, the growth performance of the F1 generation of the Australian cold mutton sheep obtained in step (a) of the process of cultivating the snowflake mutton sheep in the example 1 is detected.

[0068] The birth weight of the male (female) lamb of the Australian cold sheep, the 6-month-old male (female) lamb weight, the male (female) slaughter rate, and the female lambing rate are as follows:

[0069] Table 3: Comparison table of growth performance

[0070]

[0071]

[0072] The results in table 3 show that the birth weight of the lamb of the Yellow River estuary mutton sheep cultivated by the method in the example 1 is significantly higher than that of the Wagu sheep, and the 6-month-old weight of the Yellow River estuary mutton sheep is significantly higher than that of the Wagu sheep; the lambing rate of the Yellow River estuary mutton sheep is obviously improved compared with the Australian cold sheep.

[0073] In summary, the Australian white sheep is used as the paternal parent, the small-tail cold sheep and the Wagu sheep are used as the maternal parent, the F2 generation of the Australian cold ram is obtained by progressive crossbreeding of the Australian white sheep and the small-tail cold sheep, the F2 generation of the Australian cold Wagu ewe is obtained by three-way crossbreeding of the Australian white sheep, the small-tail cold sheep and the Wagu sheep, the F2 generation of the Australian cold ram and the F2 generation of the Australian cold Wagu ewe are crossbred, and through four stages of crossbreeding, horizontal cross fixation, breeding improvement (gene assistance) and population expansion, a new mutton sheep breed with fast growth and development, strong stress resistance, excellent meat quality and strong adaptability is cultivated.

[0074] The Australian white sheep has the advantages of fast growth rate, high meat yield, good meat quality, roughage tolerance and strong adaptability, the small-tail cold sheep has the characteristics of strong stress resistance, good adaptability and strong constitution, and the Wagu sheep has the advantages of large individual size, high breeding rate, good lactation performance and tender meat quality.

[0075] The above merely provides the preferred embodiments of the present application, and is not used to limit the present application. For those skilled in the art, the present application can have various modifications and changes. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the principles and technical scope of the present application shall fall into the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep, characterized in that, Using Australian White sheep as the sire and Small-tailed Han sheep as the dam, a two-way cross was conducted to obtain F1 generation Australian Han sheep rams and F1 generation Australian Han sheep ewes. Using Lowland sheep as the dam and the aforementioned F1 generation Australian Han sheep rams as the sire, a cross was conducted to obtain an F2 generation Australian Han Lowland sheep ewes. Using the aforementioned F1 generation Australian Han sheep ewes as the dam and Australian White sheep as the sire, a cross was conducted to obtain an F2 generation Australian Han sheep rams. Using the F2 generation Australian Han sheep rams as the father and the F2 generation Australian Han Wa sheep ewes as the mother, a Yellow River Estuary meat sheep population was obtained by crossbreeding. Snowflake meat sheep can be obtained by using any of the following cross-fixation methods: (1) The rams and ewes in the Yellow River Estuary sheep herd are fixed in a horizontal position; (2) Cross-crossing and fixing the superior rams of the Australian Han sheep F2 generation with the ewes of the Yellow River Estuary meat sheep population; (3) The rams of the Yellow River Estuary sheep population were crossbred with the superior ewes of the F2 generation of the Aohanwa sheep population to fix them; The selection criteria for rams used for the cross-fixation include: birth weight ≥ 5.0 kg, 6-month-old weight ≥ 62 kg, and adult weight ≥ 90 kg; The selection criteria for ewes used for the cross-fixation include: birth weight ≥ 4.6 kg, 6-month-old weight ≥ 55 kg, adult weight ≥ 70 kg, and lambing rate ≥ 150%.

2. The method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep according to claim 1, characterized in that, The selection criteria for the F2 generation Australian Han sheep rams used for crossbreeding the Yellow River Estuary meat sheep population include: birth weight ≥ 5.0 kg, 6-month-old weight ≥ 55 kg, and adult weight ≥ 70 kg.

3. The method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep according to claim 1, characterized in that, The selection criteria for the F2 generation Australian Han sheep rams used for crossbreeding the Yellow River Estuary meat sheep population include: birth weight ≥ 5.1 kg, 6-month-old weight ≥ 55 kg, and adult weight ≥ 70 kg.

4. The method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep according to claim 3, characterized in that, The selection criteria for the F2 generation Australian Han sheep rams used for crossbreeding the Yellow River Estuary meat sheep population include: birth weight ≥ 5.2 kg, 6-month-old weight ≥ 55 kg, and adult weight ≥ 70 kg.

5. The method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cross-fixation process employs phenotypic selection and molecular marker-assisted selection.

6. The method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep according to claim 5, characterized in that, The transverse fixation refers to continuous transverse fixation for 2-5 generations.

7. The method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep according to claim 1, characterized in that, The selection criteria for the F1 generation Australian rams used to breed the F2 generation Australian ram population include: selecting Australian rams with a birth weight greater than 4.8 kg.

8. The method for breeding snowflake mutton sheep according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, The hybridization can be achieved through natural mating or artificial insemination.

Images