Efficiency of crossing ewes of the Pechora breed with rams of the Ostfriesian breed in the conditions of Far North

Abstract

There are hypotheses that crossbreeding increases precocity, milk production and fertility of ewes, improves quality of wool with decrease in the amount of wool clip and shearing frequency from two to one time a year, and increases the growth rate of young sheep. Thus, the direction of sheep productivity turns towards increasing lamb production. Studied were quantitative and qualitative changes in the production character of Pechora-Ostfriesian crossbreeds for justification of their breeding and further use in the selection process. The objects for the study were ewes, suckling lambs and growing young sheep of the Pechora breed group and Pechora-Ostfriesian crossbreeds of the first generation of the experimental herd of L. A. Kaneva peasant farm in the Ust-Tsilma district of the Komi Republic. For the comparative analysis, data from primary zootechnical record and valuations for 2016-20 years were used. All measurements were performed in accordance with approved conventional methods. Crossbred sheep of the first generation were significantly more precocious, they had their first lambing 164 days earlier. The wool fineness of crossbreeds has increased to 56-60 quality, and the fleece evenness to 100 %, while twice reducing the cost of shearing. There is a tendency to increase the average daily gain in live weight of Pechora-Ostfriesian young sheep at the age of three to seven months by 17.4 g, or 18.1 %. The studies have shown that crossbreeding had not led to increase in the fecundity and milk production of ewes. However, the production of live weight gain per ewe per year was higher in crossbreeds by 4.4 kg, which suggests the prospects of crossing.