Effect of Breed on some Production Traits and Reproductive Traits of Local Sheep

Abstract

The current study was conducted at Khairat Al-Etihad station in the Shomali region-Babylon. Twenty-four ewes of the Awassi and Al-Krishi breeds and their mixtures were used in the study for the period from August 11, 2022 to April 23, 2023. To study the effect of the breed on some production traits such as lamb weight at birth, weaning, and body dimensions measurements. Various types such as body length, front height, rear height, chest circumference, and abdominal circumference, as well as studying some reproductive traits such as fertility rates, twins, and births in the same abdomen. The results of the current study showed that there was no significant effect of the breed on the weight of lambs at birth. As for body dimensions, the group of lambs resulting from crossbreeding sheep was significantly superior (p<0.05) in body length only to the Awassi and Kreishi lambs. respectively, The breed recorded a significant effect (p < 0.05) on the weight of lambs at weaning, as the group of lambs resulting from mixed ewes outperformed the lambs produced from Awassi and Krishi ewes, as well as in the traits of forefoot height, chest circumference, and abdominal circumference. Also, the group of mixed lambs was significantly (p<0.05) superior to the Awassi and Kreishi lambs. As for the reproductive traits studied, the breed had a significant effect on a number of reproductive traits, where the group of Awassi ewes was significantly superior at the level of (P < 0.01) over the two groups of Al-Kreishi and their mixtures in trait of the number of births, and at the level of (P < 0.05) in the two traits of the number and percentage of pregnant ewes and the fertility rate and excelled. The group of mixed ewes was significantly (P<0.01) on the two groups of Awassi and Kreishi in terms of the percentage of twins and the number of births in one litter. As for the traits of the length of pregnancy, the number of ewes born at birth, the number of births and the number of twins, the breed did not record a significant effect on it.