PAKISTAN
VETERINARY
JOURNAL
     
 
previous page   Pak Vet J, 2013, 33(1): 37-40   next page
 
Reproductive Performance of Balochi Sheep in Different Ecological Zones of Balochistan, Pakistan
 
Mudassar Jahan1,3, Mohammad Masood Tariq2*, Muhammad Azam Kakar3 and Abdul Waheed4
Livestock and Dairy Development Department Balochistan, Quetta; 2Center for Advanced Studies in Vaccinology and Biotechnology (CASVAB), University of Balochistan, Quetta; 3Department of Biotechnology and Informatics, Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Science, Quetta; 4Faculty of Veterinary Science, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan
*Corresponding Author: tariqkianiraja@hotmail.com

Abstract   

The data on reproductive performance of Balochi sheep (n=150) kept at three Government sheep farms in Balochistan, Quetta (KSBFM) (n=50), Loralai (SRCY) (n=50) and Usta Mohammad (UMSF) (n=50), under semi-intensive management system, were analyzed. General linear model was used for analyzing the data. The fixed effects in the model included location of flock, age, type of birth, sex of lamb and their interactions. The overall findings of reproductive traits such as fertility, prolificacy, single lambing, twining rate, lambs born alive and sex ratio (male: female) were 92.67, 101.33, 89.86, 10.14, 96.33% and 50.33:49.67 respectively. Highest value for twinning rate was recorded in UMSF (13.04%) and lowest in KSBFM (6.52%). All traits were significantly different (P<0.05) from each other except lambs born alive and season of birth were non significant (P>0.05) between flocks. The overall results revealed that age of dam, age at first service (AFS), service period (SP), age at first lambing (AFL) and lambing interval (LI) were 1078±2.2, 579.61±0.6, 206.25±0.2, 731.67±0.3 and 256.60±0.3 days, respectively. The results of ANOVA showed that locations had significant effect (P<0.05) on AFS and SP; however lambing interval and age at first lambing were not affected. Age of ewe, type of birth, sex of lamb(s) born and interaction between these factors did not influence the traits significantly. It is concluded that reproductive performance of Balochi sheep was modest so it is vital to improve management, nutritional and breeding practices at the farm.

Key words: Balochi sheep, Non-genetic factors, Reproductive performance

 
   

ISSN 0253-8318 (Print)
ISSN 2074-7764 (Online)



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