The effect of birth type and gender on growth performance, live weight gain, growth pattern modeling, and survival rate in Anatolian Merino lambs

Authors : Buket Boğa Kuru, Veli Ölmez

Pages : 122-132

Doi:10.31797/vetbio.1470726

View : 58 | Download : 46

Publication Date : 2024-08-22

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In this study, the aim was to determine the effect of birth type and gender on growth performance, live weight gain, growth modeling, and survival rate in Anatolian Merino lambs. Growth performance was determined in 28 singletons (14 females/14 males), 80 twins (38 females/42 males), and 54 triplets (22 females/32 males) lambs in the study. The body weight of the lambs was measured on the day of birth (day 0), and at 10, 20, 30, 45, and 60 days of age. Birth type was effective on growth performance in Anatolian Merino lambs (P 0.05). The total survival rate was 95.3%. In growth modeling of Anatolian Merino lambs, the highest regression value was in singleton males (r2=0.910), and the lowest r2 value was in triplet males (r2=0.746). In conclusion, birth type may affect the growth performance and daily live weight gain of Anatolian Merino lambs. Moreover, the similar survival rate according to birth types indicates that this productive breed is both productive and has high survivability.
Keywords : Anatolian Merino, growth performance, lambs, live weight gain, survival