Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T21:19:34.134Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Studies on Awassi sheep in Lebanon:II. Reproduction of a flock bred at four month intervals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

Knud Rottensten
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agricultural Science, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
Franklin Ampy
Affiliation:
Faculty of Agricultural Science, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

Summary

By alternately joining the rams with the ewes for two months and separating them for the following two months' period 63% of the lambings took place at eight-month intervals.

The conception rate was 85% for October–November breedings, 58 for February–March and 43 for June–July. The twinning rates for corresponding periods were 38, 8 and 7. The length of the post-partum interval had no significant influence on the conception rate.

For October–November breeding 63% of the lambings occurred between 150 and 169 days after the introduction of the rams, whereas the corresponding figures for February–March and June–July were 47 and 14, respectively.

The yearly lambing percentage was 119 as compared to 86 for a previous period from 1955 to 1963, when the rams were kept with the flock throughout the year.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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

Amir, D. & Volcani, B. (1965 a). The sexual season of the Awassi fat-tailed ewes. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 64, 83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Amir, D. & Volcani, R. (1965 b). Seasonal fluctuation in the sexual activity of Awassi, German Mutton Merino, Corriedale, Border Leicester and Dorset Horn rams. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 64, 121.Google Scholar
Hafez, E. S. E., Badreldin, A. L. & Darwich, Y. H. (1955). Seasonal variation in semen characteristics of sheep in the subtropics. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 45, 283.Google Scholar
Radford, H. M. & Watson, R. H. (1957). Influence of rams on ovarian activity and oestrus on Merino ewes in the spring and early summer. Aust. J. agric. Res. 8, 460–70.Google Scholar