Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T18:28:43.487Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A comparison of the body size, fleece weight and maternal performance of five breeds of sheep kept in one environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

Gerald Wiener
Gerald Wiener
Affiliation:
A.R.C. Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh 9
Get access

Extract

Female sheep of five breeds (Scottish Blackface (B), South Country Cheviot (C), Welsh Mountain (W), Lincoln Longwool (L), and Southdown (S)) were purchased as lambs of 5–6 months old and subsequently kept as a single flock on a grassland farm until they were 4½ years old (Southdowns to 3½ years). The sheep were used in a crossbreeding experiment with up to six breeds of ram.

The sheep were weighed and 8 body parts measured at frequent and regular intervals. The Blackfaces and Southdowns grew, relative to their mature size, a little faster initially than the Cheviots. Mature weights (lb.) were approximately B: 146, C: 145, W: 101, L: 197 and S: 129. The breeds differed in conformation but the order of maturity of the body parts was the same for each breed. Variances for body measurements decreased slightly with increasing age for early-maturing parts and increased a little for later parts. The coefficients of variation decreased slightly with increasing age. Variance in weight increased markedly with age (but not the C.V.) and showed the only large breed differences in variance.

Fleece weight, after the first shearing, was strongly affected by the amount of wool shed prior to shearing. Shedding differed significantly between the breeds, Cheviots shedding most. Shedding was also related to the number of lambs born per ewe. The total weights (lb.) of wool produced from four shearings were B: 23·2, C: 20·0, W: 15·6, L: 55·5 and S (estimated from 3 shearings): 20·8.

The numbers of lambs born per ewe totalled over three lamb crops were B: 5·81, C: 5·21, W: 4·53, L: 4·85 and S (estimated from two crops): 4·55. In survival to weaning, single-born lambs were no better than twins and crossbred lambs no better than purebred. Lambs born to Welsh mothers had the best survival; the other breeds did not differ significantly from each other. The breeds of ewe differed in the proportions of their twin lambs which had to be assisted at, or soon after, birth.

When each breed of ewe was mated to the same breeds of ram, the weights of lambs born to Blackface mothers did not differ significantly at birth from those of lambs born to Cheviots but were heavier at weaning. Lambs from Welsh mothers were the lightest at birth and weaning.

In relation to (live-weight)0·73 the maternal performance of the Welsh females was at least as good as that of the Blackfaces but the wool production was slightly poorer.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , May 1967 , pp. 177 - 195
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

Bowman, J. C., 1966. Meat from sheep. Anim. Breed. Abstr., 34: 293–320.Google Scholar
Coop, I. E., & Hayman, B. I., 1962. Live-weight and productivity relationships in sheep. II. Effect of live-weight on production and efficiency of production of lamb and wool. N.Z. J. agric. Res., 5: 265–277.Google Scholar
Dalton, D. C., 1962. Characters of economic importance in Welsh Mountain sheep. Anim. Prod., 4: 269–278.Google Scholar
Dickinson, A. G., Hancock, J. L., Hovell, G. J. R., Taylor, St. C. S., & Wiener, G., 1962. The size of lambs at birth—a study involving egg transfer. Anim. Prod., 4: 64–79.Google Scholar
Donald, H. P., Read, J. L., & Russell, W. S., 1963. Heterosis in crossbred hill sheep. Anim. Prod., 5: 289–299.Google Scholar
Dunlop, A. A., 1962. Interactions between heredity and environment in the Australian Merino. I. Strain × location interactions in wool traits. Ausi. J. agric. Res., 13: 503–531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunlop, A. A., 1963. Interactions between heredity and environment in the Australian Merino. II. Strain × location interactions in body traits and reproductive performance. Aust. J. agric. Res., 14: 690–703.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gunn, R. G., & Robinson, J. F., 1963. Lamb mortality in Scottish hill flocks. Anim. Prod., 5: 67–76.Google Scholar
King, J. W. B., Watson, J. H., & Young, G. B., 1959. Genotype-environment interactions in the wintering of lambs. J. agric. Sci., Camb., 53: 156–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, J. W. B., & Young, G. B., 1955. A study of three breeds of sheep wintered in four environments. J. agric. Sci., Camb., 45: 331–338.Google Scholar
Lax, J., & Turner, Helen Newton, 1965. The influence of various factors on survival rate to weaning of Merino lambs. 1. Sex, strain and age of ewe for single-born lambs. Aust. J. agric. Res., 16: 981–985.Google Scholar
Monteiro, L. S., & Falconer, D. S., 1966. Compensatory growth and sexual maturity in mice. Anim. Prod., 8: 179–192.Google Scholar
Morley, F. H. W., 1956. Selection for economic characters in Australian Merino sheep. VII. Interactions between genotype and plane of nutrition. Aust. J. agric. Res., 7: 140–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osman, A. H., & Bradford, G. E., 1965. Effects of environment on phenotypic and genetic variation in sheep. J. Anim. Sci., 24: 766–774.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Purser, A. F., 1965. Repeatability and heritability of fertility in hill sheep. Anim. Prod., 7: 75–82.Google Scholar
Purser, A. F., & Roberts, R. C., 1959. The relationship of hogg weight to the subsequent performance of Scottish Blackface ewes. Anim. Prod., 1: 107–111.Google Scholar
Purser, A. F., & Young, G. B., 1964. Mortality among twin and single lambs. Anim. Prod., 6: 321–329.Google Scholar
Reeve, E. C. R., & Robertson, F. W., 1953. Factors affecting multiple births in sheep. Anim. Breed. Abstr., 21: 211–224.Google Scholar
Tallis, G. M., Turner, Helen Newton, & Brown, G. H., 1964. The relationship between live measurements and edible meat in Merino wethers. Aust. J. agric. Res., 15: 446–452.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, St. C. S., 1962. Identical twins and developmental stability. Anim. Prod., 4: 144–164.Google Scholar
Taylor, St. C. S., & Craig, Jean, 1967. Variation during growth of twin cattle. Anim. Prod., 9: 35–60.Google Scholar