Performance of three tropical hair sheep breeds.

The performance of three hair sheep breeds (Brazilian Somali, Morada Nova, and Santa Ines) was evaluated in the production environment of northeastern Brazil. Data from a total of 524 lambs sired by 21 rams and out of 190 ewes were analyzed. These data were collected from 1980 to 1983 at Sobral, Brazil from an experiment designed to compare performance of the three breeds. The traits included weights of lambs at birth, weaning, 8 mo, 10 mo, and yearling ages and ewe characters of weight at lambing (EWT), total lamb weight born (LWB), total lamb weight weaned (LWW), and prolificacy rate (PR). Differences (P < .01) among breeds were found for all characters. The Brazilian Somali, the smallest and slowest-gaining breed, was less sensitive to yearly variation than were the other breeds. The Santa Ines, the largest and fastest-gaining breed, was superior in LWB and LWW per ewe lambing. Averaged over the 4-yr period, the Morada Nova had the highest PR (1.82), and the Brazilian Somali and Santa Ines had similar PR (1.39 and 1.31, respectively). Environmental effects on PR due to yearly rainfall quantity and distribution pattern influenced lamb growth up to weaning and ewe reproduction performance. Breed x year (P < .05) interaction effects on PR were largely attributable to the Somali breed's exhibiting higher PR than the Santa Ines and Morada Nova breeds during the relatively wet years of 1981 and 1982.

Simulation of genetic and environmental interaction of three tropical hair sheep breeds.

The Texas A&M Sheep Simulation Model was used to examine genetic-environmental interactions (GEI) among Brazilian Somali, Morada Nova, and Santa Ines breeds and type and level of feed supplement in northeast Brazil. Two sets of simulations were conducted to examine effects of different supplement quality (napier grass vs cunha legume) and quantity (napier grass only). The analyses indicated the benefits from supplementing lambs at weaning during the dry season and from supplementing lactating ewes at the beginning of lambing season when forage is scarce. The cunha legume was an effective supplement, but choosing between cunha legume and napier grass is an economic consideration. Increasing the amount of napier grass supplement per ewe from 200 g/d to 400 g/d resulted in a significant GEI (i.e., different levels of response such as lamb mortality rate, lamb weaning weight, and lambing rate for different breeds). The Brazilian Somali was the least responsive, whereas the Santa Ines was the most responsive to supplementation. It was concluded that the level of supplement should be higher for the Santa Ines and Morada Nova than for the Somali. The amount of supplement should be regulated so that it neither substitutes for nor lowers the utilization of the native caatinga forage. None of the breeds was simulated to be superior in all environments. Thus, considering the wide range of resources of individual farmers, any one of these breeds may be the preferred choice, depending on the individual set of production resources.

Evaluation of production and reproduction of sheep, goat and alpaca genotypes in the Small Ruminant Collaborative Research Support Program.

Research has been conducted as part of the Small Ruminant Collaborative Research Support Program (SR-CRSP) on evaluation of genetic resources and methods of effecting genetic improvement of small ruminants in the participating countries. In Kenya, the focus has been on development of a dual-purpose goat for milk and meat production in farming areas, utilizing two locally adapted breeds, Galla and East African, and two imported dairy breeds, Anglo-Nubian and Toggenburg, into a single stock. That research now has reached the stage of field testing. In Morocco, the performance of a highly prolific breed of sheep, the D'Man, and of a less prolific but larger breed, commonly raised under extensive management, the Sardi, and of their F1, F2 and backcross progeny has been evaluated for several reproduction and growth traits. Prolificacy of the D'Man was transmitted additively, but there was favorable heterosis for age at puberty, fertility and growth rate, resulting in substantial heterosis in total performance. In Indonesia, a high degree of variability in prolificacy in sheep appears to be due to segregation of a gene with large effect on ovulation rate, similar in some respects to the Booroola gene. In Peru, work has involved evaluation of effectiveness of current selection programs and estimation of phenotypic and genetic parameters, in unimproved and improved types of sheep, with a limited amount of work also on alpacas. Fiber production is the principal economic trait in alpacas. There also has been work on evaluation of hair sheep in Brazil, Kenya and Indonesia.