Influence of environmental factors on ponderal performance and morphometric characteristics of lambs of different genetic groups from birth to weaning

Abstract

-The objectives of this work were to evaluate the environmental effects (age of dam, type of birth and sex of lamb) and genetic groups (Hampshire Down and Ile de France, ½ and ¾ Hampshire Down, Ile de France and Suffolk, and ½ Texel) on performance and morphometric characteristics (height, length and heart girth) of lambs; to test regressions to predict live weight of lambs from body measurements; and to describe the growth type of the measurements as function of the weight. Weights and measurements were collected from birth to weaning, every 14 days. For evaluations of performance in relation to environmental effects and genetic groups, only data from birth and from weaning were used; for type of growth all collected data were used. Lambs from younger ewes (2 teeth) presented smaller average for weight at birth, heart girth and height at weaning. Single-birth lambs presented greater averages than twins. Genetic group influenced all traits evaluated, except heart girth at birth and average heart girth gain. Means for birth weight were higher in ¾ Ile de France (3.93±0.16 kg) and lower in ½ Texel lambs (3.04±0.24 kg), and for weaning, they were higher in ½ Texel (14.86±0.87 kg) and lower in Ile de France lambs (11.66±0.83 kg). Year of birth influenced all traits. Heart girth and length showed a negative allometric growth in relation to weight, while between weight and height the relation was positive allometric. The factors that most influenced the performance of lambs from birth to weaning are the type of birth, genetic group and year of birth. Correlations between body weight and morphometric measurements are significant, so it is possible to predict one from the other.

The comparative results of myostatin introgression from donor Texel to recipient Ramlıç sheep with the aspects of growth, pre-, and post-slaughter carcass traits in the second backcross generation

“…These findings are closely similar to our results except for rump width. The chest circumference of Texel crosses was found to be 61.6 cm by Koritiaki et al (2013), and this value was lower than that of our study. The results of the current study showed that the longissimus muscle depth of BC 2 (+/−) lambs was higher than the Ramlıç and Texel lambs.…”

“…A similar trend supporting our findings was observed by Han et al (2010) and Farhadian et al (2012). The birth weight (4.085 kg) of Texel lambs in the study was in the range of 3.70-5.00 kg reported for pure Texel and crosses (Estevá and Picard, 1989;Khusro et al, 2005;Koritiaki et al, 2013;Maxa et al, 2005;Wuliji et al, 1995). The birth weight of Texel lambs was significantly (P <0.05) lower than the other genotypes in the study.…”

Marker-assisted introgression of myostatin from Texel to Ramlıç sheep: Growth and real-time ultrasound carcass traits in F1 and BC1 lambs

“…The mean live weight obtained in the study was expressed as 43.6 kg. The chest circumference in weaning lambs carrying 50% Texel genotype was also 61.56 cm according to Koritiaki et al (23). Above mentioned growth characteristics were reported to be affected by different environmental factors such as sex, birth type, month of birth, year, and weaning age (15).…”

Morphometric Traits of the Heart in Standard and Mutational Colour Variants of American Mink ( Neovison vison )

“…Research on the structure of the heart in different groups of animals includes, among others, the relationships between heart size and body size (Prothero, 1979;Heusner, 1991;Koritiaki et al, 2013), body performance and the effect of effort or its cessation on the morphological traits of the heart and cardiac contractility (Steel et al, 1976;Nielsen & Vibe-Petersen, 1980;Pape et al, 1984;Gunn, 1989), or the association of heart morphological parameters with various environmental factors (Viscor & Fuster, 1987;Simpson et al, 2007). In studies on the heart morphology, it is important to establish the relationship between the weight of this organ and the body weight, which may be induced by the level of growth and sex hormones being secreted or diet (Bailey et al, 2004;Simpson et al).…”