COMPARATIVE STUDY REGARDING GROWTH PERFORMANCES OF LAMBS FROM TSIGAI BREED – RUSTY VARIETY AND TRIRACIALI CROSSBRED LAMBS OBTAINED FROM CROSSING BETWEEN TSIGAI BREED WITH SPECIALISED RAMS BREEDS FOR MEAT PRODUCTION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1199/th329959Keywords:
lamb, genotype, Tsigai, crossbred, ultrasoundAbstract
The current study aimed to assess the growth performance and eye muscle (M. Longissimus dorsi) properties in 70 female lambs from two distinct genotypes: 40 individuals from the Tsigai – rusty variety and 30 females from a crossbreed of Suffolk (50%) x German Blackface (37.5%) x Tsigai (12.5%). Measurements including birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), and weight at 5 months (W5M) were recorded for analysis. Ultrasonic measurements were utilized to assess the depth, eye muscle area, and eye muscle perimeter of the Longissimus dorsi, as well as the thickness of fat covering this muscle. The animals were fed the same diets throughout the study. The results obtained highlighted the fact that, breed structure influenced significantly (p<0.05) birth weight, with similar significant effects observed for weaning weight and weight at 5 months, indicating the impact of breed structure on these growth parameters. Significant differences (p<0.001) in favour of crossbred female were also recorded regarding the total weight gain in the birth-weaning and birth-5 months period, differences that were also reflected in the average daily gains. Means for ultrasound measurements of eye muscle properties were highly significant (p<0.001) only for backfat thickness, at 3 rd – 4 th lumbar vertebrae. Regarding phenotypic correlations between ultrasound measurements and weight at 5 months, among a total of 45 trait pairs, 46.66% exhibited small correlations (0.00-0.30), 26.67% displayed medium to high correlations (0.31-0.60), and 26.67% showed high correlations (0.61-1.00).References
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