Abstract
Sheep rearing is an important livelihood for a large number of small and marginal farmers in India. Growth is a trait of interest in domestic animals. Information about growth model parameters is very useful for selection studies. In this paper, the growth of Madras Red sheep, a native breed of Tamil Nadu state in India, is studied through nonlinear growth models using data on average monthly body weight measurements of 1424 sheep from birth to 2 years of age born during 1996 to 2010. Sex of lamb, dam weight at lambing and year of birth were the significant non-genetic factors affecting body weight at birth, 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th month. The birth weight and 9th month weight showed significant difference between the seasons. Average daily weight gain showed significant difference between sex of lamb, season of birth and year of birth while it showed significant difference between dam weight at lambing only for the period 3-6 months. Brody’s growth model described the average monthly growth remarkably well in males and females suggesting its usefulness in growth monitoring of Madras Red sheep.
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