Genetic and nongenetic effects for milk yield and growth traits in Saudi camels

The study was based on a set of 256 records for milk yield at 305 days, 1,899 records of test day yield, and 466 growth records collected at Al Jouf center from 1987 to 2009. Except season of calving, milk yield at 305 days was affected by parity and calving year, whereas test day yield was influenced by parity, calving year, stage of lactation, and test milk day. Only birth year had a significant effect on all growth traits, whereas dam's parity influenced weights at birth and 3 months, and birth season affected birth weight, weight at 6 months and average daily gain (ADG) 3-6 months. Variance components estimated using an animal model showed that heritability and repeatability estimates for milk yield at 305 days were 0.24 and 0.28, respectively. The corresponding estimates for test day yield were 0.22 and 0.66, respectively. Direct heritabilities were 0.37, 0.50, 0.60, and 0.85 for body weights at birth, 3, 6, and 12 months of age, respectively, and 0.25, 0.37, 0.49, and 0.29 for ADG 0-3, 3-6, 6-12, and 0-12 months, respectively. The annual genetic progress was 0.05 kg for milk yield at 305 days and 0.0003 kg for test day yield. Annual genetic gains during 23 years were 0.050, -0.185, 0.079, and 0.331 kg for body weights, respectively, and -9, -5, -4, and -13 g, for ADG, respectively. It was concluded that it is necessary to set up a field milk and growth recording system in order to collect a large number of records to check these estimates.