The influence of some factors on the production effects of Sjenica sheep

Abstract

Gene expression at the phenotypic level varies due to a number of influences from the environment in which the animals are reared. Ignoring this reality or due to insufficient knowledge, farmers are often disappointed when choosing a population of sheep when they do not get the production results that the breed achieves where they bought it. The investigation of the reproductive and production characteristics of parent herds of Sjenica sheep was conducted on four farms. In the research, it included a total of 921 lambs and 474 sheep. The influence of sheep body weight on the weight of lambs at birth within a farm was analyzed. Based on the research conducted on the sheep population and after the obtained and processed data, we can state the following: certain differences were found in the fertility of sheep depending on the farm and body weight. We also perceived that certain differences in the body weight of the lambs are evident depending on the weight group of the sheep and the farm where the sheep were raised. All of the above leads us to the general conclusion that management is extremely important in sheep farming. If the selection of the breeding population is carried out correctly and adequate measures of keeping, nutrition and reproduction are applied, success is guaranteed.