2.4.1. Breed, Year, RG

Data (i.e., ADG, RFI, and FEC for animals in the 2CPT and FAMACHA© score and FEC for females on-farm) were analyzed within herd/flock to determine RG (i.e., High, Moderate, and Low) as noted earlier and yearly effects of species, herd/flock, and RG were presented elsewhere. In this paper, the 3-yr period of the 2CPT was evaluated for breed/flock difference, RG categorization, and change in growth performance and response to artificial infection with H. contortus as well as genetic parameters (i.e., heritability and genetic correlation). The FEC was not normally distributed and various transformations were tested by PROC UNIVARIATE [22] for normality. A logarithmic transformation [lnFEC; ln(meanFEC + 100)] was most appropriate and selected for the analyses, and results are shown in the original scale. Performance data of goat sire candidates that had completed the 2CPT (n = 144) were analyzed by PROC MIXED of SAS [23] with fixed effects of breed, year, RG, and their interactions, and the random effect was animal within breed × RG. Initial values of FEC and PCV at the time of artificial infection were used as covariates. Instead of breed, flock was used for data of growing sheep males (n = 190) because of the two farms of the Katahdin breed. Initially, effects of breeding groups were anticipated, but correlations between sires and progeny in mean FEC were not significant for any of the breeds and flocks and, thus, were not considered in the statistical analysis.