Genetic Parameters of Growth Traits in Crossbred Sheep

Singh, D.; Kumar, Ramesh; Pander, B. L.; Dhaka, S. S.; Singh, S.

doi:2006.19.10.1390

Article

Animal Breeding and Genetics

Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences 2006;19(10): 1390-1393.
https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2006.1390 Published online August 2, 2006.

Genetic Parameters of Growth Traits in Crossbred Sheep

D. Singh, Ramesh Kumar, B. L. Pander, S. S. Dhaka^*, S. Singh

Correspondence: S. S. Dhaka,

Abstract

Data spread over 11 years (1986-1996) pertaining to a synthetic population developed by inter se mating of half-breds of Corriedale and Russian Merino with Nali maintained at CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar were utilized for the estimation of genetic parameters for growth traits. The means for birth weight (BWT), weaning weight (WWT), six month body weight (SWT), yearling weight (YWT), preweaning daily gain (PRW) and post weaning daily gain (POW) were 3.35 kg, 10.79 kg, 13.28 kg, 18.96 kg, 82.6 gm and 27.6 gm, respectively. The effects of year and season of birth and sex of lamb were significant for all the traits under study except the effect of season of birth for WWT, SWT and PRW. No definite trend was observed over the years for the averages of body weight and gain. Lambs born during the spring season performed better for BWT, WWT and PRW while the performance of lambs born during autumn was better for the other traits included in the study. The male lambs were heavier than the females for body weight at all stages and gain in weight. The heritability estimates for WWT and PRW were low; for BWT and SWT were moderate and for YWT and POW were high. Birth weight had high heritability and high genetic correlations with subsequent body weights and gains but due to the presence of a maternal effect on BWT and WWT, a sequential selection procedure is recommended for the improvement of growth rate in sheep.

Keywords: Heritability; Correlations; Growth Traits; Sheep