title: Fattening performance of purebred and crossbred lambs from fat-tailed Kurdi ewes mated to four Iranian native ram breeds.
abstract: A crossbreeding experiment was carried out to determine the sire breed effects on fattening performance of fat-tailed lambs. Rams from four Iranian fat-tailed sheep breeds, namely Kurdi (K), Afshari (A), Chaal (C) and Sanjabi (S) were mated to Kurdi ewes producing 454 progeny of four genotype groups (KK, AK, CK and SK). A total of 80 lambs comprising ten female and ten male lambs from each genotype group were used in a fattening experiment during a period of 88 days. Genotype of the lamb had significant effect on average dry matter intake (ADMI) (P < 0.05). SK lambs had the lowest ADMI. Average daily gain (ADG) and food conversion ratio (FCR) were not influenced by genotype of the lamb. Sex of the lamb had significant effect on both ADG and FCR (P < 0.01). Slaughter weight (SLW), hot carcass weight (HCW), cold carcass weight (CCW) and daily carcass gain (DCG) were not affected by lamb's genotype. However, genotype had significant effect on dressing percentage, carcass loss percentage (P < 0.01), carcass length (CL), leg circumference (LC), carcass compactness (CC) (P < 0.01) and carcass density (CD) (P < 0.05). Carcass width (CW) and leg length (LL) were not affected by lamb's genotype. Sex of the lamb had significant effects on CL, CW, LC, CC, CD (P < 0.01) and LL (P < 0.05). The results indicated the existence of sire breed difference for daily dry matter intake and carcass conformation in the fat-tailed sheep.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran. aliesmaili@uk.ac.ir
authors.forename: Ali K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Esmailizadeh
authors.forename: Mostafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nemati
authors.forename: Mortaza S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Mokhtari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001823:Body Composition / Q000235:genetics; D001835:Body Weight / Q000235:genetics; D001947:Breeding / Q000379:methods*; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D007492:Iran; D016018:Least-Squares Analysis; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D012641:Selection, Genetic; D012756:Sheep / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D014329:Tropical Climate
references.citation: Small Rumin Res. 2000 Jul 1;37(1-2):165-169
references.pmid: 10818319
references.citation: J Anim Sci. 2004 Nov;82(11):3144-53
references.pmid: 15542460