The Awassi sire can be used to crossbred with low-productive Tikur local ewes to produce export-marketable weight at yearling under farmer's management in the Ethiopian highlands

Growth and growth curve analysis in Dorper × Tumele crossbred sheep under a smallholder management system

“…The SMWT (market weight) of Dorper × Tumele sheep under a smallholder management system was higher than most of the indigenous breeds (Farta, Washera, and Wollo sheep) and even similar to the value reported for 50% Dorper × Menz sheep (17.23 kg) managed under semi-intensive management system ( Abebe et al, 2016 ). The YWT for Dorper × Tumele sheep was comparable with the value reported for Washera and Farta × Washera ( Mekuriaw et al, 2013 ) and Awassi × Tikur sheep ( Tilahun et al, 2016 ). However, the present figure was higher than Farta sheep ( Mekuriaw et al, 2013 ) and Wollo sheep ( Amare et al, 2018 ).…”

“…The BWT of Dorper × indigenous sheep found in the current study is higher than the reports of several scholars ( Belete et al, 2015 ; Abebe et al, 2016 ; Gemiyo et al, 2017 ) for Dorper crossbred sheep. Likewise, the WWT of Dorper × Tumele sheep in this study is higher than the reports of several studies ( Mekuriaw et al, 2013 ; Tilahun et al, 2016 ; Gemiyo et al, 2017 ; Amare et al, 2018 ) for indigenous and crossbred sheep. The preweaning gain of Dorper × Tumele sheep observed in this study is lower than the value reported for pure Dorper (142.93 g day −1 ), but higher than the value reported for 50% Dorper × Menz sheep (106.24 g day −1 ) under semi-intensive management ( Abebe et al, 2016 ) and also higher than the result (99.8 ± 2.4 g day −1 ) reported for Dorper × Adilo sheep by Gemiyo et al (2017) .…”