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One way is to first determine accurate heritabilities in our herd, and then increase those heritabilities. The next is to apply the already existing technologies of selection indices and best linear unbiased prediction. Most breeders won’t have the background in statistics and matrix algebra to understand how selection indices and BLUP work. The good news is, you don’t need to! That is what The G.A.I.N. is for! Our purpose is to help you make genetic selection decisions about alpacas based on genetic breeding values determined by computerized analysis of performance records. The G.A.I.N. provides you with information about the genetic value of your breeding stock through the use of Estimated Progeny Differences. Our speciality is calculating EPDs for alpaca breeders, and helping breeders use those EPDs to their best advantage in selection and mating decisions. This will help the member alpaca breeders to maximize the rate of genetic gain in their herds. The G.A.I.N. uses the performance data gathered from alpaca breeders and provides them with across-flock EPDs, which will be the new industry standard for genetic evaluation of commercially important traits. Breeders use these EPDs to guide their selection and mating decisions to produce the optimum next generation of crias, trait by trait. This next generation of alpacas then has EPDs calculated which are used in turn for the next generation of breeding decisions.
The G.A.I.N. does multiple backups of data in order to protect the database. Records of the herds of individual breeders are always kept confidential and are seen only by the breeder that inputs the data from their own herd and the computer program that does the calculations. The EPDs generated are also confidential and returned only to the individual owner of the animals on which they were generated. It is then up to that individual to decide to either keep the EPDs private and use them only for their own breeding decisions or to make them available to others for the purpose of advertising stud services or animals for sale based on their Expected Progeny Differences. (For more on EPDs, see our FAQ.)
We are proud to be bringing the alpaca breeding industry into the
21st century and love to talk about just how we are doing so. Please
e-mail, call, write, or fax us at any time -- we offer the best,
most advanced method of genetic evaluation available for your alpacas
today. We'd like to help you maximize the rate of genetic gain in
your herd, contact us and find out what The G.A.I.N. Advantage could
do for you!
“What if we want to make predictions using data from genetically different contemporary groups—groups from different farms and ranches or from different decades?.....best linear unbiased prediction or BLUP is designed for just this type of situation.”* Dr. Jarvis is applying BLUP principles using a proprietary software program to determine Breeding Values and Expected Progeny Differences for the alpacas of Sixth Day Farm and for the alpacas of their partners and clients. Selection index theory was first developed in 1930s and '40s and has been applied to a wide variety of commercial livestock breeding endeavors. From wool production and rate of gain in sheep to marbling characteristics in beef cattle, selection indexes have been used successfully in all manner of livestock breeding programs. This type of scientific evaluation and predication has been unavailable to Alpaca breeders until now! For info about how you can participate in The G.A.I.N. and the benefits it can have to your breeding program, please feel free to contact Dr. Wayne Jarvis at . * Richard M. Bourdon, Prentice Hall, Understanding Animal Breeding, 2000
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The
G.A.I.N. uses its own BLUP program to generate EPDs for alpacas
in the same scientific way that other livestock industries have
done for decades. This proven technology allows The G.A.I.N. to
provide the most scientifically reliable and accurate tool available
anywhere in the world today for genetic selection in alpacas.
Selection
indexes are a linear combination of various phenotypic information
and weighting factors. “Selection indexes should only be used
for genetic prediction when data come from contemporary groups thought
to be genetically similar.”* Like the Cormo sheep shown here.
However, we all know our alpacas are not as genetically similar
as that.|
The
Genetic Alpaca Improvement Network (G.A.I.N.) |
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| Copyright 2004 The G.A.I.N. All rights reserved. Site development by Hill Shepherd Marketing Group. |
