The reproductive and lamb mortality data (n = 187) of the Local and crosses of Dorper × Local ewes following natural controlled breeding in Ethiopia were analysed. Data were collected during 2009-2011 at Sirinka breeding, evaluation and distribution site, eastern Amhara region of Ethiopia. Breed, lamb sex, birth season, birth year, birth type and ewes' parity were considered as fixed effects. Data analyses were performed using general linear model procedures. Breed was a significant source of variation: the local sheep attained faster the age at first lambing than the crossbred ewe lambs (469 ± 8.45 vs. 555 ± 6.25 days, p < 0.0001), whereas the crossbred ewes weighed more than the local sheep ewes at the age of first lambing (32.7 ± 0.63 vs. 22.8 ± 0.43 kg, p < 0.0001). Birth year had also important influence on the age and weight at first lambing of ewes. Ewes showed better performance during the later study years, differences attributed due to the improved management advantages in later years. The crossbred and local ewes were comparable in their litter size, despite the fact that the lambing interval of crossbred ewes was longer than the local ewes (306 ± 4.62 vs. 287 ± 2.38 days). Additionally, there was no significant difference in mortality rate between the two breeds. This study confirms that the local ewes had higher annual reproductive rate than that of the crossbred sheep ewes (1.49 ± 0.02 vs. 1.37 ± 0.01 lambs) under the same environmental conditions. The present results suggested that better management and breeding program probably will increase the productivity of the local sheep. * Corresponding author. M. Lakew et al.279
Description of the physical characteristics of livestock breeds is very important for developing a breeding strategy in a particular production system. Doyogena sheep are among the potential breeds of Ethiopia reared in the mixed perennial crop and livestock production system of Southern Ethiopia. This research was conducted to characterise the morphological features of Doyogena sheep in an attempt to develop a breeding strategy that suits the production system of the area. A total of 512 sheep were characterized for different morphological features. Most (74.6%) of the sheep in the flock were females and 34.4% were old sheep of four and above dentition classes. Light red and red coat colours were abundant (71.5%) and 74% of the colour pattern was plain. Doyogena sheep are long fat-tailed (100%) and short haired (93.4%). The overall least square mean body weight was 31.64±0.43 kg and was affected by sex and age of sheep. The mean heart girth (74.08±0.39 cm), body length (58.84±0.30 cm), and height at rump (69.71±0.29 cm) were also affected by sex and dentition. Positive and significant correlations were obtained between body weight and other linear body measurements. The highest correlation coefficient was between body weight and heart girth. The positive and significant correlation of weight with linear body measurements indicate that linear body measurements can be used as a marker to estimate weight for different purposes. Different models can be used for different purposes. For simplicity, models with one variable can be used for marketing and by farmers. For breeding and selection purposes, since there is a need to be more precise, use of models involving more number of variables is important.
The paper is initiated to design appropriate conservation strategies and breeding scheme for Fogera cattle breed that will be used as a guide for other Ethiopian indigenous cattle breed. Two types of data, on-farm and on-station, were used; the on-farm data was collected from three districts, namely, Fogera, Dera, and Bahir Dar Zuria; those are expected as the home of the breed. A total of 150 farmers, which are knowledgeable and having at least one cattle of Fogera phenotype in their herd, were purposively selected and interviewed. Additionally, farmer's focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted to capture the historical background, population, and distribution of the breed. SPSS (version 16) and index method was used to analyze the quantitative and scoring data's, respectively. A meeting at national and regional level was also conducted to evaluate the existing conservation strategy and to identify the major stakeholders for the strategy. The main reasons to conserve Fogera breed are due to presence of interrelated constraints, presence of unique traits of the breed, better attitude of farmers, and decreasing population trend of the breed. Community-based in situ conservation strategy, to ensure the participation of the community, was designed for the breed. With the conservation strategy, related activities like feed development, animal health interventions, market linkage, and development of cooperatives will be implemented to improve the working environment. The stakeholders that are identified as an actor in the strategy should realize their honest participation for the sustainability of conservation and improvement of the breed.
Ethiopia has huge livestock resource, but poor in their productivity. It stated national small ruminant breeding policy and strategy focused on genetic improvement. This is intended to design appropriate breeding programs based on the indigenous breeds status. Study of phenotypic variation is among the prerequisite activities of genetic improvement that is limited in this study area. The objective of this study was to describe morphological characteristics and variations of goat populations in the Central zone of Tigray. Qualitative and quantitative data of 403 young to matured goats (326 lactating does and 77 bucks) were used to analyze by frequency procedure, GLM procedure, Pearson correlation, and multivariate analysis of SAS version 9.4. The study revealed that goats in Adwa district were distinct in coat colors and pattern, horn shape, ear orientation, head profile and ruff, significantly heavier (p<0.01) and larger (p<0.001) in height at withers and in height at pelvic than those in Tanqua Abergele (TA) and Kola Tembien (KT) districts. Goats found in Adwa district were morphologically distinct from those found in TA and KT districts with the higher discriminating values in female goats.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.