Effect of Breed of Ram on Reproductive Performance of Barki Ewes and Their Lambs | ||
| Alexandria Science Exchange Journal | ||
| Article 7, Volume 34, April-June - Serial Number 2, June 2013, Pages 222-227 PDF (518.89 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/asejaiqjsae.2013.3041 | ||
| Authors | ||
| Eissa, M.M* 1; El-wakeel, EL.A* 1; Ahmed, M.H* 2; Zahran, S.M* 3; EL-Rewany, A.M* 1 | ||
| 1Agriculture research center, Animal Research Institute, El-Dokki, Egypt | ||
| 2Faculty of Agriculture (Saba Basha), Animal Production, Alexandria University. | ||
| 3Faculty of Agriculture (Saba Basha), Animal Production, Alexandria University. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The study was carried out at the faculty of agriculture (Saba Basha), Alexandria University at Abis. Forty mature Barki ewes weighed 43 Kg were divided into two similar groups each of twenty ewes. The first group was mated with Awassi ram and the other group was mated with Barki ram. The animals of two groups were fed hay or fresh berseem and wheat straw in addition to concentrate mixture. The concentrate mixture consists of: 37% crushed corn, 30% crushed barley, 20% wheat bran, 10% soybean meal, 2% lime stone and 1% salt. The results showed that ewes mated to Barki ram had higher fertility traits {number of ewes conceived per ewe joined( EC/EJ) , number of ewes lambed per ewes joined (EL/EJ), number of lambs born per ewes joined ( LB/EJ) , number of lambs weaned per ewes joined (LW/EJ)} except for kilograms born or weaned per ewe joined {(KGB/EJ), (KGW/EJ)}. The heavier weights of lambs born or weaned may be due heavier weights of Awassi ram in addition to Awassi breed is considered as improved breed. Ewes mated to Barki ram had higher values of Lambs born/Ewe lambing (LB/EL) and Lambs weaned /Ewe lambing (LW/EL) and lower values of kilograms born/ ewe lambing (KGB/EL) and kilograms weaned /ewe lambed (KGW/EL) than those of ewes mated to Awassi ram. The (½ Awassi X ½ Barki) ewe lambs - which born from Awassi ram with Barki ewes - reached puberty at younger ages (270 days) and heavier weights (31.23 kg) than Barki ewe-lambs (293.9 days and 29.87 kg, respectively). The breed of ram had highly significant effect on age at maturity of it’s ewe-lambs where (½ Awassi X ½ Barki) ewe-lambs reached maturity at younger age than did the Barki ewe-lambs (329.0 vs. 352.4 day). Breed of ram had insignificant effect on weight of ewe-lambs at maturity but the ewe-lambs produced from Awassi ram were heavier at maturity than the Barki ewelambs which produced from mating Barki rams to Barki ewes (34.58 kg vs. 33.36 kg). The (½ Awassi X ½ Barki) ewe-lambs lambed for the first one at younger ages (477 day) than did Barki ewe-lambs (501 day). The breed of ram had insignificant effect on productive traits of ramlambs in term of age at first ejaculation and weight at first ejaculation. The Barki ram-lambs reached puberty at 328.5 days and weighed 35 kg while the crossbred ram-lambs reached puberty at shorter age and heavier weights (319.4 days and 36.3 kg, respectively). Data obtained from this study indicated that mating Barki ewes by Awassi rams resulted in a significant improvement in the reproductive performance of Barki ewes in term of kilograms born or weaned per each ewe joined or lambed, while their ewe-lambs and ram-lambs showed higher reproductive performance. | ||
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