Breeding MAGIC
General guideline for the establishment of the MAGIC nucleus herd:
Although starting off with 50% Gir animals the final aim will be to stabilize the “MAGIC” breed at
-
25% Gir
-
65%
Bos
Taurus
(with
no
single
breed
contributor
surpassing
25%
and
as
evenly
divided
between
Bos
Taurus
dairy
and
Bos Taurus dual purpose breeds as possible)
-
10% Sahiwal or other Bos Indicus (preferably other than Gir)
Bos Taurus dairy breeds initially utilized in breed development and allowed are Holstein, Ayrshire, Guernsey and Jersey.
Bos
Taurus
dual
purpose
breeds
initially
utilized
in
breed
development
and
allowed
are
Milking
Shorthorn,
Scandinavian
Red
(Danish Red, Swedish Red, Norwegian Red and Finish Ayrshire), Illawarra, MRI, Montbeliard, Fleckvieh and Brown Swiss.
All
pure-bred
pedigree
sires
used
in
breed
development
should
be
exceptional
and
top
of
their
breeds
in
Total
Performance
Index,
production,
type
and/or
fertility.
Of
all
sires
used
the
greatest
influence
in
breed
development
should
be
exerted
by
“C.A. Sansão”, the world’s best Dairy Gir sire ever.
For all MAGIC animals disqualifying and strict culling reasons are:
•
Poor production if not caused by restrictive feeding and management
•
Obvious
display
of
signs
of
suffering
heat
stress
as
breathing
through
open
mouth
with
tongue
out
and
favouring
wet
and muddy places to lie down
•
Poor fertility or gynaecological conditions impairing fertility as cystic ovarian disease, etc.
•
Poor temperament and failure to let down milk without the calf present
•
Bad udder score to the degree that milkability is impaired or repeated mastitis caused
•
Bad
feet
and
legs
score
and
hoof
quality
to
the
degree
that
free
locomotion
is
hampered
or
lameness
is
caused
by
sole
ulcers, heel erosion or hoof abscesses
“A good cow has no colour” but selection should be done against black hair coat as this is the colour most prone to Tsetse fly
attack and which is mostly associated with causing excessive heat stress in the animal.
Technical guideline for the MAGIC breed development:
1. MAGIC 50 (MAGIC with 50% Gir blood)
1.
As
no
pure-bred
Gir
animals
are
available
in
Kenya
yet
all
MAGIC
50
will
initially
be
produces
as
F1
first
crosses
of
“C.A. Sansão” on selected Bos Taurus * Bos Indicus cross-bred cows
2.
As
soon
as
additional
high
quality
pure-bred
Gir
sires
will
become
available
(hopefully
from
2015)
these
will
also
be
used on selected Bos Taurus * Bos Indicus cross-bred cows to produce alternate lines of Magic 50 cows and sires
3.
Experimenting
will
start
to
produce
F2
MAGIC
50
animals
and
if
successful
in
the
female
offspring
we
will
consider
to
use their male counterparts as MAGIC 50 sires, too. Both grand-sires must be 100% Gir but are exchangeable.
Success
is
defined
by
uniformity
in
F2,
they
should
not
be
distinguishable
from
F1
MAGIC
50
animals
and
F2
splitting
of
the
genotype
should
not
be
noticeable.
This
is
achievable
by
great
genetic
diversity
and
many
different
breed
components in the original Bos Taurus * Bos Indicus cross-bred females used.
It
might
be
worthwhile
to
also
do
some
experimentation
with
very
close
line
breeding,
whereby
both
grand-sires
on
maternal
and
paternal
side
will
be
“C.A.
Sansão”.
Some
absolutely
exceptional
cows
and
sires
were
produced
this
way.
Examples:
Profana
(2* ”Vale Ouro de Brasilia”),
Garbha
(2* “Radar dos Pocoes”,
Damion
(2* same grand-dam)
2. MAGIC 25 (MAGIC with 25% Gir blood)
1.
Initially the majority of MAGIC 25 will be produced by using MAGIC 50 Sires (both F1 and F2) on a great variety of
cross-bred and pure-bred cows, for example:
2.
In the nucleus herd MAGIC 25 can also be produced by two other approaches:
a)
b)
Picture soon to follow
3. MAGIC (as a fully stabilized breed)
In
the
final
breed
stabilization
phase
MAGIC
25
sires
obtained
through
use
of
these
two
different
approaches
in
the
nucleus
herd
will
be
used
on
the
remaining
population
of
MAGIC
25
cows,
with
much
care
and
emphasizes
being
placed
upon
maintaining
an
as
high
as
possible
degree
of
diversity
in
breed
composition
and
ancestry.
All
resulting
offspring
can
now
be
called MAGIC if they fulfil the selection criteria and don’t display any of the culling reasons described above.
Thereafter MAGIC breeding can be handled as in a pure-bred population.
Practical guideline for the MAGIC breed development:
For a farmer who wants to upgrade his present herd to MAGIC breed status
a)
Starting with a pure-bred Bos Taurus herd or Bos Taurus cross-bred herd:
1.
Choose the MAGIC 50 sire which has the least percentage of the breed(s) originally started out with to obtain F1
2.
On
the
F1
generation
use
a
MAGIC
25
sire,
again
selecting
the
one
whose
breeding
contains
the
least
percent
of
the
breeds
that are still present in your F1
3.
On
F2
and
all
following
generations
always
choose
the
MAGIC
sire
which
offers
the
greatest
diversity
to
the
breed
percentages and ancestry already present in your herd
b)
Starting with a herd of more than 50 % Bos Indicus blood:
1.
Start by using a MAGIC 25 sire with the smallest percentage of other Bos Indicus blood available
2.
On
the
next
generation
choose
again
a
MAGIC
25
sire
with
the
smallest
percentage
of
other
Bos
Indicus
genetics
available
and which offers the greatest diversity to the breed percentages and ancestry already present
3.
On
all
following
generations
always
choose
a
MAGIC
sire
which
offers
the
greatest
diversity
to
the
breed
components
and
ancestry already present in your herd
For a farmer who wants to enhance his present purebred but non pedigree herd
Using
the
full
range
of
MAGIC
sires
(MAGIC
50,
MAGIC
25
and
MAGIC)
enables
you
to
introduce
some
heterosis
and
all
the
associated
advantages
into
pure-bred
Bos
Taurus
herds
without
compromising
the
general
appearance
of
the
herd.
This
is
particularly helpful to increase the overall profitability of the herd.
a)
For
producing
a
limited
amount
of
heterosis
and
all
the
advantages
associated
therewith
(especially
better
fertility,
health
and
longevity)
without
changing
the
general
appearance
of
your
herd
use
a
MAGIC
25
bull
whose
sire
is
from
the
same
breed
or
the
breed closest related or resembling your present herd
b)
For
producing
a
greater
amount
of
heterosis
and
all
the
advantages
associated
therewith
(especially
better
fertility,
health
and
longevity)
with
only
slightly
changing
the
general
appearance
of
your
herd
use
a
MAGIC
25
bull
which
best
as
possible
by
appearance
resembles
your
herd
and
whose
sire
is
from
a
breed
not
related
but
resembling
your
present
herd
(Brown
Swiss
on
Jersey, Scandinavian Red or Fleckvieh on Ayrshire or Holstein and vice versa)
c)
For
producing
the
greatest
amount
of
heterosis
and
all
the
advantages
associated
therewith
(especially
better
fertility,
health
and
longevity)
without
completely
loosing
the
general
appearance
of
your
herd
use
a
MAGIC
50
bull
whose
dam
by
appearance
best resembles your herd.
Clarification:
All
breed-percentages,
Bos
Taurus/Bos
Indicus
fractions
and
even
sire
influences
in
this
web-book
are
expressed
as
a
numeric percent value. Theoretically this can only be calculated correctly when done for F1 hybrids of pure-bred parentage.
All
percent
values
calculated
for
F2
and
later
generations
are
only
the
“average
of
all
possibilities”
of
the
expression
of
the
genetic
components
for
each
animal.
But
for
all
practical
purposes
this
value
is
serving
it’s
purpose
just
fine
and
helps
to
keep
track of the breed composition of the whole population as well as that of individual animals.
Sire
Dam
Sire
Dam
Sire
Dam
Sire
Dam
