Finding best exotic breed proportion in crossbred lactating sheep kept under farmers’ conditions in Ethiopia determined by use of nested Legendre polynomials with limited data

Abstract

The present study was conducted to estimate milk production performance and fit lactation curves for groups of ewes of Local and of Awassi crosses, with a variable blood level, reared under farmer's environment. The Weigh-Suckle-Weigh method plus hand milking was used to estimate milk yield for ewes. A total of 466 observations from 115 ewes were used. Estimated least-squares adjusted means for the milk production over 120 days were 0.56 kg day −1 (Local), 0.67 (<30% Awassi), 0.86 (30-50% Awassi), and 0.96 (>50% Awassi). Groups with 30-50% Awassi and >50% Awassi ewes produced significantly (p < 0.05) more milk than Local ewes. Significant differences were observed between <30% Awassi and >50% Awassi crossbred groups. The best crosses (>50% Awassi) produced over 70% more milk than the local ewes which demonstrates the potential that exists in increasing milk production through the initiated crossbreeding programme with sheep in Ethiopia. ARTICLE HISTORY

Molecular detection and antibiogram of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) from raw milk in and around Bahir Dar town dairy farms, Ethiopia

“…Milk is produced from cattle, goats, camels, and sheep. Recently, there has been a noticeable increase in the utilization of sheep milk for human consumption within the pastoral areas and the southern regions of Ethiopia, drawing attention to its economic potential [ 5 , 6 ]. The foremost milk production sources were cattle, which accounted for the dominant percentage (81.2%) of the total national annual milk output, followed by goats (7.9%), camels (6.3%), and sheep (4.6%) [ 7 ].…”