The sheep population consisted of 486 rams and 303 ewes. The hoof colors of the rams and ewes included in this study are presented in Table 1. All selected AUW sheep were approximately 1-2 years old, were healthy, and had been reared on the same farm with the same breeding environment, the same diet, and the same environmental conditions.
Sheep can come in a number of different shades of various colors including white, black, red, cream, gray, and brown. They can be solid or have an interesting pattern of colors on their coats of wool or hair. It really all depends on their breed, bloodline, and genetics.
Genetics play the main role in determining what color a sheep will be and, over the years, sheep breeders have finely tuned. The hoof color can be black, grey, amber, or striped due to a combination of different pigments (Australian White Sheep Breed Standards, 2015). A deeper black hoof color is the standard for breeding purebred AUW sheep.
Shelly hoof in sheep occurs when the hoof wall becomes detached from the laminar corium; it often then becomes impacted with debris leading to infection, pain and lameness. Learn about hoof care for sheep, including trimming techniques and tips to maintain healthy hooves and prevent diseases. A deeper black hoof color is the standard for breeding purebred Australian White (AUW) sheep and this phenotype could be used as a phenotypic marker of purebred animals.
This study provided novel insights into hoof color genetics in AUW sheep, enhancing our comprehension of the genetic mechanisms underlying the diverse range of hoof colors. Our results agree with previous studies and provide molecular markers for marker-assisted selection for hoof color in sheep. Keywords: sheep, GWAS, SNP, MITF gene, hoof color.
Download scientific diagram Hoof Color Statistics for Total AUW Sheep. from publication: The Hoof Color of Australian White Sheep Is Associated with Genetic Variation of the MITF Gene Simple. Foot rot in sheep is caused by the anaerobic bacteria called Bacteroides nodusus.
Some symptoms of foot rot in sheep include swollen hooves, foul discharge, and hoof tissue reddening. How to Care for Sheep Hooves Things to Note Schedule the trimming sessions of your sheep's hooves after the cold season. The results of GWAS demonstrated that a specific single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; g.
33097911G>A) in intron 14 of the microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) gene was significantly associated with the hoof color in AUW sheep (p = 9.40 × 10-36)." Associated gene.