Document Type : Research article
Authors
1
Department of Biology, College of Education, Al Iraqia University
2
Ministry of Agriculture, Iraq
Abstract
This study was designed to evaluate the reproductive performances of Awassi ewes under different breeding conditions. This experiment was carried out at three sites: a ruminant research station (F1), a sheep breeder's field, a flock from the research station (private sector) (F2), and a flock from a sheep breeder (private sector) in Bardiya, west of Baquba/Diyala Governorate (F3) between 1/7/2019 and 1/5/2020. Each flock included 25 mature pluriparous ewes. The data including lambing rate, litter size at birth, percentage of twining, litter size at weaning, and ewes’ and lambs’ mortality rate, as well as the sterility percentage, were recorded at each location and compared between the flocks. The results revealed that the lambing rate was the highest in F1 (96%), while it was the lowest in F2 (84%) and the difference was significant (P≤0.05). There were non-significant differences in lambing rates between F2 and F3. Litter size at lambing in F1 was significantly (P≤0.05) higher than that recorded in F2 and F3, where the litter sizes were 1.26, 1.10, and 1.15 births/ewe per flock in F1, F2, and F3 respectively. Similarly, the twining rate in F1 was significantly higher than that recorded in F2 and F3. There were non-significant differences in the twining rate between F2 and F3. The percentage of twins in the F1, F2, and F3 were 26.31%, 10.52%, and 15.78% respectively. The lambing rate in F1 was significantly (P≤0.01) higher than that recorded in F2 and F3. There were non-significant differences in the litter size at weaning between F1 and F3 (1.05, 1.00, respectively), while both had litter sizes at weaning were larger than F2 (P≤0.05, 0.89). The percentage of lambs' mortality was non-significant among the included flocks. There were significant differences (P≤0.05) in the ewes’ mortality between the F and F3, with the lowest lamb mortality recorded in F3 (13.63%). It can be concluded that reproductive performance in Awassi ewes is highly dependent on flocks’ breeding condition and that must be optimal to improve the reproductive performance in this breed.
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