Abstract
Relative to purebreeding, crossbreeding in the hill flock has been shown to increase lamb growth rates from birth to weaning by up to 12% and weight of lamb weaned by up to 24%, depending on ewe and ram breeds concerned (Carson et al 2001). Traditionally crossbred females produced in the hill are sold to the lowland as replacement females, so that potential hybrid vigour effects associated with crossbreeds are not fully exploited in the hill environment. A research programme has been established in Northern Ireland to investigate the potential for retaining crossbred females in the hill environment, as replacement breeding females, to improve the genetic potential of the hill flock. This paper presents the results from the first phase of the study which involved the production of the crossbred lambs from Scottish Blackface ewes (over 3-years) and the first year of the second phase, an evaluation of the performance of crossbred ewes as breeding females in the hill sector.
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