The effects of genotype of crossbred ewes, evaluated under lowland conditions, on lamb output

Abstract

Lowland sheep farmers in Northern Ireland depend heavily on the hill sector for replacement breeding ewes. Thus changes in the genetics of the ewes and rams used in the hills are likely to have major implications on the performance of lowland breeding ewes. Crossbred females were produced in the study by Carson et al. (2000) as a result of crossing Scottish Blackface and Wicklow Cheviot ewes with a range of sire breeds. The objective of this study was to provide information on the productivity of these crossbred females for lowland producers.