نبذة مختصرة : National audience ; The selection of French dairy sheep breeds is presently based on annual progeny-testing of 440, 50, 30 30, and 150 AI rams, respectively in Lacaune (LL), Basco-Bearnaise (BB), Corse, black-faced Manech (BFM), and redfaced Manech (RFM) breeds. Since 2010 we have been studying the feasibility of genomic selection (GS) in the above breeds. The main results are the following: (1) the size of the reference populations reached in 2013 4841 (LL), 509 (BB), 331 (BFM), 1424 (RFM) AI rams; (2) since the accuracies of different genomic evaluation methods were shown to be similar, the single step GBLUP method was chosen; (3) a gain in accuracy of genomic predictions over parent average ranged from 0.10 to 0.20, depending on the trait and breed; (4) a gain in accuracy was more limited than in large breeds like dairy cattle, in agreement with a larger effective population size in French dairy sheep breeds. The design of a genomic breeding scheme in dairy sheep is comparable to hybrid schemes implemented in small Scandinavian dairy cattle populations, which combine an initial genomic selection with a moderate phenotype selection at the arrival of the first proofs. With a genomic selection pressure between 1/3 and ¼ in 3 month-old rams, the annual genetic gain will be increased by 10 to 15 % with a reduction of the AI livestock in the range of 20-40 %, hardly balancing genotyping costs. A genomic experiment carried out in AI LL rams born in 2011 and 2012 validated such a GS pressure around 1/3. Finally, the breeding organizations decided to move towards genomic selection in 2015 in Lacaune and in a near future in Pyrenean breeds, expecting a greater flexibility from the genomic scheme. SG therefore leads to major changes in terms of selection of dairy sheep in France with upcoming changes in technical, economic and organizational aspects. ; La sélection des brebis laitières en France est fondée actuellement sur le testage sur descendance de 440, 50, 30, 30 et 150 béliers d’IA par an, respectivement en races ...
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