Improvement studies on mutton sheep for Marmara region conditions: I. fertility, lamb survival, and growth traits of lambs

Abstract

The present study was conducted to compare the fertility of ewes, the survival rates, and the growth performance of lambs that were crossbred by mating German Black-Headed Mutton (GBM) rams with Kıvırcık ewes. The average lambing rates of the GBM × K(F1), Bandırma-I and Bandırma-II genotype, and Kıvırcık ewes were 80.00%, 75.73%, 76.78%, and 83.72%, respectively. The differences in lambing rates between the genotypes were significant (P < 0.01). The genotypes had a significant effect on litter size at birth, but not on fecundity. The differences in lambs' survival rates between the genotypes were significant (P < 0.05). The birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), and yearling live weight (YLW) of the lambs were 3.77 kg, 34.11 kg, and 43.71 kg for the GBM × K (F1); 3.74 kg, 32.98 kg, and 44.91 kg for the Bandırma-I; 3.73 kg, 33.18 kg, and 45.71 kg for the Bandırma-II; and 3.45 kg, 30.92 kg, and 42.22 kg for the Kıvırcık lambs. The results of this study showed that crossbreeding between the GBM and Kıvırcık breed did not significantly increase lamb production. However, crossbred lambs did not have significant survival problems when compared to native Kıvırcık lambs and had higher growth performance than purebred Kıvırcık lambs.