The Repetition of the Structure of Sheep Populations by the Nature of the Combination of Breeding Characters and the Peculiarities of the Relative Change Between Them
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The research was carried out on two populations of sheep of the Taurian inbred type of the Askanian thin-fleece breed, which were created by purchasing livestock from the leading breeder in the breed, which was located in the arid steppe Azov-Black Sea region of Ukraine. The introduction of animals was carried out in ecological conditions typical for the central regions (Poltava region) using different technologies of their maintenance. Research conducted in the conditions of the breeder of "Bilagro" LLC found that according to live weight indicators, sheep that were raised in the breeding farm before purchase probably exceeded their peers of local reproduction by 3.5% and 5.4% (р < 0.001 in both assessment years). According to the shearing of unwashed wool, sheep of local reproduction were better than their peers bought in the breeding farm by 2.6–16.5%, with a probable difference only between the second and third groups. The advantage in wool length was also for animals of local reproduction by 10–13% for p < 0.001. In terms of live weight and wool shearing, the sheep population of LLC AC "Mayak" has significant advantages over its peers of LLC "Bilargo". Despite the indicated differences, a highly probable rank correlation was established between the animals of own reproduction in both assessment years («Bilagro» LLC) and those raised before weaning in the breeding plant with regard to the indicators of the population structure based on the combination of the evaluated traits. It is characteristic that in other farms in adjacent years of assessments, as well as in comparison with the population of "Bilagro" LLC, the studied rank repeatability of the structure turned out to be almost similar. In general, the sheep of both herds have stable correlations between the parameters of live weight, shearing and wool length over the years of evaluation. This, together with the preservation of the stability of the population structure due to the nature of the combination of these characteristics, can be evidence of the high adaptability of sheep of this type to new environmental conditions and technologies for their cultivation and maintenance.
Source: Animal Breeding and Genetics
DOI: 10.31073/abg.68.05
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4408340605