About

Billy Flowers is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University. He holds the position of Professor and is recognized for his distinguished contributions to the field of animal science. His research focus, background, and key contributions are not detailed in the provided page text.

Research topics

• Biology
• Animal science
• Computer Science
• Ecology
• Environmental science
• Political Science
• Geography
• Meteorology
• Mathematics
• Econometrics
• Engineering
• Genetics
• Statistics

Selected publications

• Estimation of genotype by environmental interaction for litter traits by reaction norm model in Taiwan Landrace sows

  Journal of Animal Science · 2024 · 5 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Political Science
  • Statistics

  The negative effects of heat stress on swine reproduction have been well documented and the recent global warming trend caused by climate change is leading to more days with high temperatures every year. This has caused a reduction in litter trait performance of Landrace sows in Taiwan, a country extending across tropical and subtropical oceanic zones. Therefore, this study developed a modified model to determine which stages of pregnancy, before, early, middle, and late, had the largest impacts of heat stress on litter traits. A reaction norm model (RNM) was used to identify sows with high resilience to heat stress for litter traits followed by analysis of the modified model. Data from Landrace sows were collected from 2 farms in Taiwan between 2008 and 2021. A total of 11,059 records were collected for total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA), and stillborn rate (STBR). The results showed that the heritabilities of TNB, NBA, and STBR were 0.170, 0.115, and 0.077, respectively. These results were similar between the conventional model and the modified model. In the modified model, the before and early stages of sow pregnancy were the significant periods for TNB and NBA (P < 0.05), while the early and middle stages were significant for STBR (P < 0.05). According to the RNM results, the heritability estimates for TNB, NBA, and STBR were 0.23 to 0.11, 0.18 to 0.08, and 0.10 to 0.04, respectively, showing a decrease from low temperature-humidity index (THI) to high THI. The minimum genetic correlations between the highest and the lowest THI for TNB, NBA, and STBR were 0.85, 0.64, and 0.80, respectively. The results of the RNM for breeding value showed re-ranking across THI values. In conclusion, similar results were obtained for heritability when the model was modified for heat stress estimation. Yet re-ranking of breeding values across THI could help farmers to select not only for improved litter trait performance but also for heat stress resilience of Landrace sows in Taiwan.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• 228 The effect of temperature-humidity index in different pregnancy stages on litter traits in Taiwan Landrace sows

  Journal of Animal Science · 2024

  • Animal science
  • Biology
  • Environmental science

  Abstract Because of climate change, annual average temperatures are gradually rising. Hence, increasing heat stress can impair the litter traits of Taiwanese sows located in tropical and subtropical zones. However, some pregnancy stages may be impacted more by heat stress than other periods. Thus, the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effect of temperature-humidity index (THI) in different pregnancy stages on total number born (TNB), number born alive (NBA), and stillborn rate (STB). Data were collected in two Taiwanese farms from 2008 to 2021 for TNB, NBA, and STB, while weather data were collected from the closest respective weather station. There were 4,247 and 6,812 pure line Landrace record from farm 1 and farm 2, respectively. Pregnancy stages included 28 d before mating (BEFORE), mating to 30 d of pregnancy (EARLY), 31 to 70 d of pregnancy (MIDDLE), and 71 d of pregnancy to farrowing (LATE). Average THI was calculated in each pregnancy stage and regression coefficients were estimated by linear mixed models within ASReml. A two-trait analysis was used to estimate regression coefficients and genetic correlations among TNB, NBA, and STB. Results showed THI impacted (P &amp;lt; 0.05) TNB and NBA BEFORE and EARLY, while THI influenced (P &amp;lt; 0.05) STB EARLY and MIDDLE. Regression coefficients for TNB were -0.0069 and -0.0228 for BEFORE and EARLY, respectively. For NBA, regression coefficients were 0.0106 and -0.0391 for BEFORE and EARLY, respectively. Regression coefficients for STB were -0.0651 and 0.1332 for EARLY and MIDDLE, respectively. Heritability estimates for TNB, NBA, and STB were 0.168, 0.113, and 0.069, respectively. Genetic correlations between TNB with NBA and STB were 0.913 and 0.539, respectively. While the genetic correlation between NBA and STB was 0.158. In conclusion, THI impacted BEFORE and EARLY stages for TNB and NBA, while the stages of EARLY and MIDDLE were impacted by THI for STB. Hence, control of the environments in these specific stages for sows could improve the performance of litter traits.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• T. C. Cantley

  5 shared

• B. N. Day

  5 shared

• Kai-Hsiang Lin

  North Carolina State University

  3 shared

• Michael J. Martin

  Sligo University Hospital

  3 shared

• Mark Knauer

  2 shared

• En-Chung Lin

  National Taiwan University

  2 shared

• Adam J. Ziȩcik

  Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research

  2 shared

• Asher Wright

  North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

  2 shared

Labs

• Animal SciencePI

Awards & honors

• William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor

Similar researchers at North Carolina State University

• Jonathan Lindseyh-101
• Edward Breitschwerdth-100
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• Rob Dunnh-94
• Frances S. Liglerh-92