Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:49:11.212Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Body size and conformation in sheep from birth to maturity as affected by breed, crossbreeding, maternal and other factors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2010

G. Wiener  and
Susan Hayter
G. Wiener
Affiliation:
ARC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
Susan Hayter
Affiliation:
ARC Animal Breeding Research Organisation, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JQ
Get access

Summary

Body weight was studied from birth to 5½ years of age and six linear measures of body size from birth to 4¼ years for sheep of five breeds, Scottish Blackface, Cheviot, Welsh Mountain, Lincoln Longwool and Southdown, and of crosses of these breeds with each other and with the Tasmanian Merino, but not in all possible combinations. The sheep were run as a single flock. Numbers ranged from 753 at birth to 150 at the end of the experimental period.

There were marked differences among the breeds and crosses in all aspects of body size and some differences in rate of maturity. They also differed in conformation independently of body weight. Crosses of the hill breeds with the Lincoln and probably with the Southdown were heavier than the average of the parental breeds and larger in some linear body measurements from about weaning onwards. The weights of crosses of Blackface and Cheviot with Lincoln eventually exceeded those of the heavier parent of the cross. For the crosses among the three hill breeds only the Blackface Cheviot cross showed significant deviations from mid-parent values for weight and size.

Maternal effects were important for all traits studied from birth to weaning and for weight up to a year old. In relation to mature size, Welsh dams produced the biggest and Lincoln the smallest lambs. The data did not permit Southdown maternal effects to be estimated. The effects of birth type and rearing were apparent for late maturing body parts up to a year old and for weight up to 3 years. Males, measured only from birth to weaning, were heavier and generally larger than females.

Residual correlations between the various measures of size varied from 0·1 to 0·7.

Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Production , Volume 19 , Issue 1 , August 1974 , pp. 47 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © British Society of Animal Science 1974

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

Bichard, M. and Cooper, M. McG. 1966. Analysis of production records from a lowland sheep flock. 1. Lamb mortality and growth to 16 weeks. Anim. Prod. 8: 401–411.Google Scholar
Bradford, G. E., Taylor, St.C. S., Quirke, J. F. and Hart, R. 1974. An egg transfer study of litter size, birth weight and lamb survival. Anim. Prod. 18: 249–263.Google Scholar
Dickinson, A. G., Hancock, J. L., Hovell, G. J. R., Taylor, St.C. S. and 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. and Russell, W. S. 1963. Heterosis in crossbred hill sheep. Anim. Prod. 5: 289–301.Google Scholar
Galal, E. S E., Cartwright, T. C. and Shelton, M. 1965. Relationships among weights and linear measurements in sheep and heritability estimates of some of these measurements. J. Anim. Sci. 24: 388–391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ghoneim, K. E., Aboul-Naga, A. and Labban, F. 1968. Effect of crossing Merino with Ossimi sheep on growth and body weight. J. Anim. Prod., U.A.R. 8: 45–56.Google Scholar
Hunter, G. L. 1956. The maternal influence on size in sheep. J. agric. Sci., Camb. 48: 36–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karam, H. A. 1959. Birth, weaning and yearling weights of Rahmani sheep. I. Effects of some environmental factors. II. Heritability estimates and correlations. Emp. J. exp. Agric. 27: 313–323.Google Scholar
Karihaloo, A. K. and Combs, W. 1971. Some maternal effects on growth in lambs produced by reciprocal cross-breeding between Lincoln and Southdown sheep. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 51:511–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rasmusen, B. A., Hall, J. G., Hayter, S.Wiener, G. 1974. Effect of crossbreeding and inbreeding on the frequencies of blood groups in three breeds of sheep. Anim. Prod. 18: 141–152.Google Scholar
Sidwell, G. M. and Miller, L. R. 1971. Production in some pure breeds of sheep and their crosses. II. Birth weights and weaning weights of lambs. J. Anim. Sci. 32: 1090–1094.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Terrill, C. E., Sidwell, G. M. and Hazel, L. N. 1948. Effects of some environmental factors on yearling traits of Columbia and Targhee rams. J. Anim. Sci. 7: 181–190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiener, G. 1967. A comparison of body size, fleece weight and maternal performance of five breeds of sheep kept in one environment. Anim. Prod. 9: 177–195.Google Scholar