Performance of hair breeds and prolific wool breeds of sheep in southern Illinois, United States of America
Bunge, Rodrigo
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/20435
Description
Title
Performance of hair breeds and prolific wool breeds of sheep in southern Illinois, United States of America
Author(s)
Bunge, Rodrigo
Issue Date
1992
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Shanks, Roger D.
Department of Study
Animal Sciences
Discipline
Animal Sciences
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Biology, Genetics
Agriculture, Animal Culture and Nutrition
Language
eng
Abstract
Three prolific wool-breeds (Finnsheep, Combo-6 and Booroola Merino) and 2 hair-breeds (St. Croix and Barbados) were evaluated. Suffolk and Targhee ewes were exposed to rams (3 rams per breed per year) of these 5 breeds. Results indicated that ewes mated to hair-breed rams had higher fertility and their lambs had higher survival to weaning than ewes mated to wool-breed rams, suggesting a better reproductive performance of ewes mated to hair-breed rams.
F$\sb1$ ewe lambs resulting from the previous matings were mated to Dorset rams. F$\sb1$ ewe lambs from hair-breed sires reached puberty later, were lighter at breeding and had a shorter breeding to lambing interval than F$\sb1$ ewe lambs from wool-breed sires. Hair-breed-sired F$\sb1$ ewe lambs had higher fertility, less lambs born per ewe lambing and weaned more of lamb per ewe lamb exposed than F$\sb1$ ewe lambs sired by wool-breed rams suggesting a superior adaptability of the hair-breeds over the wool-breeds to the environment in southern Illinois.
These F$\sb1$ ewe lambs were also mated to Dorset rams when they were 1$\sp{1/2}$ and 2$\sp{1/2}$ years old. F$\sb1$ ewes from hair-breed sires were lighter at breeding, ovulated less and conceived to a ram earlier than F$\sb1$ ewes from wool-breed sires. Adult F$\sb1$ ewes from hair-breed sires had higher fertility, higher ewe productivity and their lambs had higher survival and weighed less at weaning than those from wool-breed sires. These results together with those from Suffolk and Targhee ewes and F$\sb1$ ewe lambs suggest that the productivity of ewes mated to or sired by hair-breed rams is superior to that of ewes mated to or sired by wool-breed rams.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
