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This paper studies the genetic importance of growth curve parameters and their relevance as selection criteria in breeding programmes of Segureño sheep. Logistic and Verhulst growth functions were chosen for their best fit to BW/age in this breed; the first showed the best general fit and the second the best individual fit. Live weights of 41 330 individuals from the historical archives of the National Association of Segureña Sheep Breeders were used in the analysis. The progeny of 1464 rams and 27 048 ewes were used to study the genetic and phenotypic parameters of growth curve parameters and derived traits. Reproductive management in the population consists in controlled natural mating inside every herd, with a minimum of 15% of the females fertilized by artificial insemination with fresh semen; with the purpose being the herd genetic connections, all herd genealogies are screened with DNA markers. Estimates of growth curve parameters from birth to 80 days were obtained for each individual and each function by the non-linear regression procedure using IBM SPSS statistics (version 21) with the Levenberg-Marquart estimation method. (Co)variance components and genetic parameters were estimated by using the REML/Animal model methodology. The heritability of mature weight was estimated as 0.41 ± 0.042 and 0.38 ± 0.021 with the logistic and Verhulst models, respectively, and the heritability of other parameters ranged from 0.41 to 0.62 and 0.37 to 0.61, with the models, respectively. A negative genetic correlation between mature weight and rate of maturing was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-linear models were analysed to describe both the biological and commercial growth curves of the Segureña sheep, one of the most important Spanish breeds. We evaluated Brody, von Bertalanffy, Verhulst, logistic and Gompertz models, using historical data from the National Association of Segureña Sheep Breeders (ANCOS). These records were collected between 2000 and 2013, from a total of 129 610 weight observations ranging from birth to adulthood. The aim of this research was to establish the mathematical behaviour of body development throughout this breed’s commercial life (birth to slaughter) and biological life (birth to adulthood); comparison between both slopes gives important information regarding the best time for slaughter, informs dietary advice according to animals’ needs, permits economical predictions of productions and, by using the curve parameters as selection criteria, enables improvements in growth characteristics of the breed. Models were fitted according to the non-linear regression procedure of statistical package SPSS version19. Model parameters were estimated using the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm. Candidate models were compared using the determinative coefficient, mean square error, number of iterations, Akaike information coefficient and biological coherence of the estimated parameters. The von Bertalanffy and logistic models were found to be best suited to the biological and commercial growth curves, respectively, for both sexes. The Brody equation was found to be unsuitable for studying the commercial growth curve. Differences between the parameters in both sexes indicate a strong impact of sexual dimorphism on growth. This can emphasize the value of the highest growth rate for females, indicating that they reach maturity earlier. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]