EFFECT OF WATER AND FEED SALINITY ON COAT COVER TRAITS OF BARKI SHEEP IN SOUTH SINAI

Abstract

Twenty nine Barki sheep ewes (2-3 years old) were randomly assigned into four groups (7, 7, 8 and 7 animals for group 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively) to investigate the impact of salinity in both water and feed on some wool fiber traits (greasy fleece weight; GFW, fibre diameter; FD, staple length; STL, fibre length; FL and fibre type ratios; FTR) and skin follicles characteristics (secondary to primary follicles ratio; S/P ratio) in addition to triiodotyronine; T3 and thyroxin; T4 hormones under semi-arid condition of South Sinai, Governorate, Egypt. Ewes of group 1 (G1) were served as control and fed on berseem hay and drink tap water. Ewes of group 2 (G2) were fed on berseem hay and drink saline water, while ewes of group 3 (G3) and group 4 (G4) were fed on salt-tolerant plants and drink either tap water or saline water, respectively. Results of the present study showed the high variability of both fibre lengths and fibre type ratios compared to the other traits. Type of ration had a significant (P Ewes in G1 had higher GFW and S/P ratio, longer coarse fibres (FL) and smaller FD than ewes in the other groups. However, differences among groups were not significant in the case of fibre type ratios, FL (fine fibres) and kemp. Ewes in both G2 and G4 showed the lighter GFW and the shorter SL compared to their partners in the other two groups. In conclusion, results indicated that Barki sheep are tolerant to both drinking saline water and feeding on salt tolerant plants although there was decreased in greasy fleece weight and staple length with slightly increases in fibre diameter.