Records on weights from birth to 196 days of age of 927 lambs of Santa Ines hairless sheep, from 1983 to 2000, were used to estimate genetic parameters and to predict breeding values by random regression models and to compare these estimates with those obtained by two-traits model. The random regression models were fitted by quadratic and cubic orthogonal Legendre polynomials. The heritability estimates of direct effect increased from birth to 196 days of age. The heritabilities for the maternal effect increased from birth to 56 days, and decreased after that age. The heritabilities for direct effect obtained by two-trait and random regression analyses showed opposite tendency. While the estimates obtained by two-trait analyses decreased from birth to 196 days of age, those obtained by random regression models increased. The heritabilities for maternal effect, obtained by both models, showed the same behavior, however with different magnitude. The Spearman correlation between estimated breeding values by both models was low. The heritability and genetic correlations estimated by random regression model were more consistent than those estimated by two-trait model.
hairless sheep; maternal effect; heritability; animal model; Legendre polynomial
