Reproductive performance of three fat-tailed breeds of sheep mated to native, Corriedale and Targhee rams

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Abstract
Reproduction and lamb production of three fat-tailed, carpet-wool Iranian breeds of sheep; Karakul (130 ewes), Mehraban (103) and Baluchi (119) were studied. The ewes were mated either as purebreds or with Corriedale or Targhee rams. The overall least-squares means for ewes mated (showed oestrus) or ewes exposed, ewes lambed or ewes mated, lambs born of ewes lambing (prolificacy), lambs born alive of total lambs born, lambs weaned of live lambs born, lambs weaned (75 days of age) of ewes mated, kg lamb weaned per ewe mated and kg lamb weaned per 100 kg ewe mated were 98.3%, 93.5%, 103.1%, 94.9%, 97.8%, 90.0%, 18.2 kg and 38.4 kg respectively. The native breeds were not different for any of the traits studied except for prolificacy which was higher in Mehraban than in Karakul. Purebred matings did not differ from the crossbred matings for any of the traits concerning the number of lambs but crossbreeding improved kg lamb weaned per ewe mated (9.2%, P=0.08) and kg lamb weaned per 100 kg ewe mated (10.0%, PP=0,08) et les kg sevrés par 100 kg de brebis accouplée (10,0%PpP<0.05). De las tres razas nativas, la Karakul fue superior cuando se cruzó con las razas exóticas en lo concerniente a las características kg de cordero destetado. Las razas Corriedale y Targhee tuvieron efectos similares en todas las características estudiadas. Un bajo porcentaje de ovejas vírgenes ciclaron regularmente, tuvieron un porcentaje bajo de mellizos y productividad en general, comparada con las ovejas maduras. El sexo no fue una fuente significativa de variabilidad, en la supervivencia de los corderos.