@conference {40849,
	title = {Relationships between adult liveweights and velvet weights in farmed Red deer},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {56},
	year = {1996},
	month = {Jan},
	pages = {334-337},
	publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	abstract = {Deer farmers with velvetting herds are interested in: selection of stags  for superior lifetime performance; selection of stags and hinds to produce  improved sons; and management of the stag herd to increase returns from  velvet. Knowledge of genetic and phenotypic relationships between weights  of velvet harvested at different ages and between liveweights and velvet  weights will allow benefits from selection and some management practices  to be quantified. This paper reports estimates of these relationships from a  study involving some 2,021 stags representing 92 sire progeny groups  distributed over five farms. Heritability estimates for velvet weight at successive ages from 2 to 8 year  old stags ranged from 0.43 to 0.85. The average estimated genetic  correlation between velvet weights in successive years was 0.97 but declined  to 0.75 as the number of years between harvests increased. Phenotypic  correlations were consistently lower than genetic correlations. Treating log- transformed velvet weight as a repeatable trait resulted in an estimated  heritability of 0.36 with a repeatability of 0.64 and s.d. of 0.11 (log scale).  Average velvet production in kg (Y) can be predicted from age in years (X)  from the following equation: log10(Y) = -0.37 + 0.33*X - 0.044*X2 +  0.002*X3 Within a cohort of stags of the same age, heavier stags produced more  velvet, with an average genetic correlation of 0.74 and phenotypic  correlation 0.44. The genetic correlation between liveweight of hinds at 2  years of age and velvet weight at various ages averaged 0.5. Comparing different cohorts of stags of the same age, there was no  relationship between average liveweights and average  velvet weights. As stags aged, the average weights of velvet and liveweight increased.  Describing velvet weight in kg (Y) as a non-linear function of weight in kg  (X) the allometric equation was Y = 0.21*X1.4, indicating velvet weight is  later maturing than liveweight. },
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {Garrick DJ and Van Den Berg GHJ}
}
