HERITABILITY OF TEAT NUMBER IN SWINE

Abstract

Heritabilities were estimated for teat number in nine populations of swine over two time periods. From 1962 to 1974 the populations included Lacombe, Yorkshire, and Lacombe × Yorkshire. In this data set, only total teat number was recorded. From 1982 to 1988 three purebred populations (Landrace, Yorkshire, and Hampshire) and three crossbred populations (Landrace-Yorkshire rotation, Landrace × Yorkshire, and Landrace × Hampshire) were represented and total teat number and the number of teats anterior and posterior to the navel were recorded. Heritabilities for total teat number were greater in the 1982–1988 data (ranging from 0.27 to 0.47) than in the 1962–1974 data (ranging from 0.20 to 0.32). The heritability of posterior teat numbers (ranging from 0.08 to 0.39) was generally larger than the heritability of anterior teat numbers (ranging from 0.03 to 0.21) and both were considerably less than the heritability of total teat number. Genetic and phenotypic correlations were calculated for the relationships between anterior and posterior teat numbers (AP), anterior and total teat numbers (AT), and posterior and total teat numbers (PT). The relative magnitudes of the genetic and phenotypic correlations with respect to AP, AT, and PT revealed that selection for increased total teat number would increase the number of anterior and posterior teats. However, the larger genetic correlations for PT relative to AT would lead to a greater increase in posterior teat number than anterior teat number. Key words: Pigs, teat number, heritability, genetic correlation, phenotypic correlation