Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dsjbd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T11:50:46.069Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The performance of Finnish Landrace sheep in Britain

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

H. P. Donald
Affiliation:
A.R.C. Animal Breeding Research Organisation, Edinburgh 9
J. L. Read
Affiliation:
A.R.C. Animal Breeding Research Organisation, Edinburgh 9
Get access

Extract

A group often female and five male Finnish Landrace sheep were taken to Scotland in 1962. In subsequent purebreeding for four years they and their offspring have shown average litter sizes (at birth) of 2·0, 3·0 and 3·4 for ewes aged one, two and three or more years respectively.

Body weights of breeding ewes prior to mating were on average 72, 106 and 128 lb for ewes of the three age groups.

Mean ewe fleece weights were 4·5 lb with the wide range of 1·7 to 7·1 lb due in part to some shedding of fleece wool in spring. The quality of the true wool in the undercoat was estimated at 54–56's.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1967

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Bateman, N., 1966. Ovulation and post-ovulational losses in strains of mice selected from large and small litters. Genet. Res., 8: 229241.Google Scholar
Falconer, D. S., 1963. Qualitatively different responses to selection in opposite directions. In Statistical Genetics and Plant Breeding (ed. W. D. Hanson and H. F. Robinson), pp. 487490. Washington N.A.S.-N.R.C. Publ. No. 982.Google Scholar
Johansson, I., & Hanson, A., 1943. The sex ratio and multiple births in sheep. Lantbr.- Högsk. Annlr. (Uppsala), 11: 145171.Google Scholar
Maijala, K., 1966. Causes of variation in litter size of Finn-sheep ewes. 9th Int. Congr. Anim. Prod. Edinburgh, Abstracts p. 29.Google Scholar
Purser, A. F., 1965. Repeatability and heritability of fertility in hill sheep. Anim. Prod., 7: 7582.Google Scholar
Terrill, C. E., 1962. Heritability estimates: farm animals. Pt. II. Sheep. In Growth: including reproduction and morphological development. U.S. Air Force tech. docum. Rep. AMRL-TDR-63-2. Washington D.C.: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.Google Scholar
Vainikainen, V., 1946. Crossbreeding Finnish sheep with Schwartzkopf rams. Maataloust. Aikakausk, 18: 5062.Google Scholar
Watson, R. H., & Radford, H. M., 1966. Seasonal variation in fertility in Merino ewes. The reproductive wastage associated with mating in winter, spring, summer, or autumn. Aust. J. agric. Res., 17: 335345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar