Morphometric characterization and zoometric indices of white Morada Nova breed: The first step for conservation
Introduction
More than five centuries have passed since the beginning of colonization and the introduction of domestic animal species in Brazil, and breeders have only little improved local genetic resources which have spent all this time adapting to the environmental conditions of production systems. Factors such as the introduction of animals from temperate regions in flocks which are locally adapted to the tropical climate region are routinely discussed by some authors to justify the decrease in genetic variability and the substitution by more productive animals (Lobo, 2019).
The Morada Nova breed represents an important genetic resource within sheep breeds which are locally adapted to the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil. Its general characteristics are based on excellent productive and reproductive capacity, females have high precocity, prolificacy and maternal ability (Facó et al., 2008), and flocks in general have excellent control dynamics of the main gastrointestinal endoparasites (Ferreira et al., 2017), in addition to good homeothermic characteristics in hot environmental conditions (Leite et al., 2018). However, even with all these attributes, they are still underappreciated animals within production systems. This factor is mainly attributed to their small size and weight, which according to the Brazilian Association of Sheep Breeders (Associação Brasileira dos Criadores de Ovinos - ARCO) varies from 30 to 50 Kg. This standardization was erroneously interpreted as an unfavorable characteristic for many years, attributed by the lack of zootechnical bookkeeping associated with the financial control of livestock activity in production systems.
The Morada Nova breed is recognized by ARCO for two types of coat color; the first is completely red and the other totally white, where red animals must have a dark muzzle and hooves and only white-coated animals can have a light muzzle and hooves (Muniz et al., 2016). It is worth mentioning that animals with atypical coats, black or which have some spots and the presence of horns are disqualified for the purpose of genealogical registration, and are consequently excluded from the selection programs because they do not meet the so-called “breed standard” (Shiotisuki et al., 2016).
The actual Morada Nova sheep flocks present population fragility, especially the white coat group, which is worrying. Traditional breed producers consider that the sheep of this genotype are “not adapted”, claiming that they are undesirable animals for the particular context of the semi-arid region because they have depigmented white hair, skin and mucous membranes, and therefore have disadvantages compared to other breeds. As a result, the white population of the Morada Nova breed has been eliminated from farms due to these assumptions. Thus, there is an indisputable need to start work which can promote improving the characteristics of a “breed standard” aimed at conservation, genetic improvement and economic viability of the breed in animal production systems, aiming at maintaining genetic variability (Alderson et al., 2018). Given this context, the objective of this study was to carry out a morphometric characterization of the white Morada Nova sheep using the mean of sixteen (16) morphological traits and thirteen (13) zoometric indices, and thereby start the breed conservation process.
Section snippets
Search regulation
All the procedures performed in the study followed the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
Data history
The data herein come from 115 white Morada Nova sheep from seven flocks in the states of Ceará, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte, in Northeastern Brazil. The farm characteristics are shown in Fig. 1. Searches for the farms began in January 2018 and lasted for 15 months. The search initially took place in the associations: ARCO and the Brazilian Association of Morada Nova sheep breeders (
Results
The mean values, the amplitude of the morphometric measures and the zoometric indices, and the pigmentation frequencies of the different body regions are presented in Table 1. It is possible to obtain a description of the body regions and the size of the animals, in which some variables presented greater amplitude such as the case of head length (HLen) and head width (HWid) among the cephalic measures, as well as body length (BL), withers height (WH), thoracic perimeter (TP), rump height (RH),
Discussion
Phenotypic characterization enables obtaining useful information for recognizing a breed, being the first step in a conservation program of genetic resources after identifying a population at risk of extinction (Alderson, 2018). White Morada Nova sheep do not have a breed pattern with precise references which is based on technical data to support selecting individuals.
Some body characteristics such as HLen, HWid, BL, WH, RH and RW were important, since white sheep, unlike the red phenotype of
Conclusion
White sheep of the Morada Nova breed have a good thoracic capacity, medium body development and square rump, have depigmented or partially depigmented mucous, hooves and skin, and morphological characteristics which indicate better meat production. Although there are some variations of their characteristics with productive applications among populations, most of them can be explained by environmental factors such as deficiencies in nutritional and reproductive management. Lastly, the variables
Note
This work was carried out as a result of the Master in Animal Science of Samuel Freitas Nunes (2020).
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Samuel Freitas Nunes: Methodology, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Josiel Ferreira: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Robson Mateus Freitas Silveira: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing. Daniel Caetano Sales: Methodology, Investigation. José Ernandes Rufino de Sousa: Supervision, Project administration, Funding
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank farmers and universities that made available flocks (Federal University of the Semi-Arid Region, Federal University of Ceará and State University of Acaraú Valley). We are grateful to Dr. Olivardo Facó (EMBRAPA Caprinos e Ovinos, Brazil) for important reviews concerning this publication, Dra. Jacinara Hody Gurgel Morais Leite for assisting in the bureaucratic procedures of the research project, Wilian Maia for assistance with data collection and CAPES (Coordenação de
References (27)
- et al.
Performance, endoparasitary control and blood values of ewes locally adapted in semiarid region
C.I.M.I.D.
(2017) - et al.
Application of genomic data to assist a community‐based breeding program: a preliminary study of coat color genetics in Morada Nova sheep
Livest. Sci.
(2016) - et al.
Body conformation of Santa Inês, Texel and Suffolk ewes raised in the Brazilian Pantanal
Small Rumin. Res.
(2019) Conservation of breeds and maintenance of biodiversity: justification and methodology for the conservation of Animal Genetic Resources
Arch. Zootec.
(2018)- et al.
Koppen’s climate classification map for Brazil
Meteorol Z.
(2013) - et al.
Pelvimetry pig strains agroceres and dan bred
R. Bras. Ciênc. Vet.
(2014) - et al.
Adaptation mechanism of small ruminant to enviromental heat stress
Animals
(2019) - et al.
Índices Zoométricos en Ovejas Criollas Araucanas
Int. J. Morphol.
(2010) - et al.
Relação entre a circunferência torácica e peso corporal de bodes Saanen em Mato Grosso do Sul.
Congresso Brasileiro De Medicina Veterinária
(2008) - et al.
Data Science for Business and Decision Making
Predição do peso corporal a partir de mensurações corporais em ovinos Texel
Arq. Ciênc. Vet. Zool.
Análise fatorial de medidas morfométricas em ovinos tipo Santa Inês
Arch. Zootec.
Cited by (16)
Fine genetic structure of Brazilian white Morada Nova hair sheep breed from semi-arid region
2022, Small Ruminant ResearchCitation Excerpt :The Brazilian Association of Sheep Breeders (ARCO – Associação Brasileira de Criadores de Ovinos) admits two coat varieties, the traditional red and the white variety, the latter being little used in production systems, but Ferreira et al. (2017) suggested presence of three varieties (red, withe and black). Through a survey of the number of herds and animals of the white Morada Nova breed, conducted in the years 2018 and 2019 by the Adaptive Physiology and Genetic Resources Laboratory (LATIVA – Laboratório de Fisiologia Adaptativa e Recursos Genéticos), seven herds were identified in three states of the Brazilian Northeast region (Nunes et al., 2020). A total of 259 animals were identified and this fact puts the variety at risk of extinction according to FAO (2007) guidelines.
Evaluation of homeothermy, acid-base and electrolytic balance of black goats and ewes in an equatorial semi-arid environment
2021, Journal of Thermal BiologyCitation Excerpt :Cattle, goat and sheep farming is formed by animals of locally adapted breeds, and are continually studied for their adaptive responses (da Silva et al., 2017; Façanha et al., 2020; Vasconcelos et al., 2020; Ferreira et al., 2020). According Nunes et al. (2020), the social contribution of the small ruminant industry is very important to many Brazilian smallholders, mainly in semi-arid regions of the country. Goat farming is traditionally used in milk and meat production systems, while sheep are only used in meat production, and both species are reared in extensive systems (Lobo, 2019).
MORPHOSTRUCTURAL TRAITS IN INDONESIAN FEMALE GOAT BREEDS OF BOER, BOERKA, KACANG AND ETTAWA CROSS
2024, Iraqi Journal of Agricultural SciencesThermal gradient of local sheep and goats reared in the Brazilian semi-arid region
2023, Revista Brasileirade Ciencias Agrarias