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Biostatistics for Animal Science

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32 <strong>Biostatistics</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Animal</strong> <strong>Science</strong><br />

Example: Determine the probability distribution of the number of female calves in three<br />

consecutive calvings. Assume that only a single calf is possible at each calving, and that the<br />

probability of having a female in a single calving is p = 0.5.<br />

The random variable y is defined as the number of female calves in three consecutive<br />

calvings. Possible outcomes are 0, 1, 2 and 3. The distribution is binomial with p = 0.5 and<br />

n = 3:<br />

⎛ 3⎞<br />

y 3−<br />

y<br />

P(<br />

y)<br />

= ⎜ ⎟(<br />

0.<br />

5)<br />

( 0.<br />

5)<br />

y = 0,1,2,3<br />

⎝ y⎠<br />

Possible values with corresponding probabilities are presented in the following table:<br />

y p(y)<br />

0<br />

1<br />

2<br />

3<br />

⎛3⎞<br />

0 3<br />

⎜ ⎟(<br />

0.<br />

5)<br />

( 0.<br />

5)<br />

= 0.<br />

125<br />

⎝0⎠<br />

⎛3⎞<br />

1 2<br />

⎜ ⎟(<br />

0.<br />

5)<br />

( 0.<br />

5)<br />

= 0.<br />

375<br />

⎝1⎠<br />

⎛3⎞<br />

2 1<br />

⎜ ⎟(<br />

0.<br />

5)<br />

( 0.<br />

5)<br />

= 0.<br />

375<br />

⎝2⎠<br />

⎛3⎞<br />

3 0<br />

⎜ ⎟(<br />

0.<br />

5)<br />

( 0.<br />

5)<br />

= 0.<br />

125<br />

⎝3⎠<br />

The sum of the probabilities of all possible values is:<br />

Σi p(yi) = 1<br />

The expectation and variance are:<br />

µ = E(y) = np = (3)(0.5) = 1.5<br />

σ 2 = var(y) = npq = (3)(0.5)(0.5) = 0.75<br />

Another example: In a swine population susceptibility to a disease is genetically<br />

determined at a single locus. This gene has two alleles: B and b. The disease is associated<br />

with the recessive allele b, animals with the genotype bb will have the disease, while<br />

animals with Bb are only carriers. The frequency of the b allele is equal to 0.5. If a boar and<br />

sow both with Bb genotypes are mated and produce a litter of 10 piglets: a) how many<br />

piglets are expected to have the disease; b) what is the probability that none of the piglets<br />

has the disease; c) what is the probability that at least one piglet has the disease; d) what is<br />

the probability that exactly a half of the litter has the disease.<br />

The frequency of the b allele is 0.5. The probability that a piglet has the disease (has the bb<br />

genotype) is equal to (0.5)(0.5) = 0.25. Further, the probability that a piglet is healthy is<br />

1 - 0.25 = 0.75. Thus, a binomial distribution with p = 0.25 and n = 10 can be used.<br />

a) Expectation = np = 2.5, that is, between two and three piglets can be expected to have the<br />

disease.

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