A study on the Determination of Some Reproductive Traits of Ewes and The Growth Performance of Lambs Akkaraman Raised under Farm Conditions in the Province of Niğde

Abstract

In this study, the reproductive and growth performance of Akkaraman sheep between 2017-2021 were evaluated within the scope of the National Sheep and Goat Breeding Project in the Hand of the Public, which is being carried out in the province of Nigde. In the research, data obtained from 30923 animals in 22 farms in 7 villages in the central district of Nigde province were used. In the study, the effect of year, dam’s age, gender and birth type on birth weight (BW), live weight on day 60 (LW1), live weight on day 120 (LW2), daily live weight gain (DLWG) on day 120 were investigated. The effects of year, dam’s age, gender and birth type on BW, LW1, LW2, DLWG were found to be statistically significant. While the effects of year, dam’s age and gender were found to be statistically effective on SR, the effect of birth type was found to be insignificant. In the study, fertility, fecundity and litter size in Akkaraman lambs were determined as 0.92, 1.03 and 1.13, respectively. As a result, remarkable progress has been achieved in Akkaraman lambs in terms of performance characteristics (LW1, LW2 and DLWG) between 2017 and 2021.