Growth intensity of lambs from native sheep breeds in Albania

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of breed and sex on the body weight at different ages from birth to weaning and to compare with exotic ones. The data of live body weight at birth, 30 days, 60 days and weaning time were collected from a total of 180 lambs from two native sheep breeds namely Shkodrane and Lara e Polisit and two imported breeds Awassi and Il de France that are reared in the farm of the Center of Agricultural Technology Transfer of Korca region located in South East of Albania. All the lambs were from a single litter size. The mean body weight at birth was 3.3065 ± 0.307 kg, 7.847 ± 1.979 kg at the age of 30 days, 8.296 ± 2.015at 60 daysand 9.9161 ± 3.188 kg at weaning time of lambs of Shkodrane breed. The mean body weight of Lara e Polisit breed was 3.2500 ± 0.481 kg at birth, 8.9963 ± 2.565 kg at age 30days, 9.045 ± 2.155at 60 days and 10.1857 ± 3.078 kg at weaning time. The average birth weight of lambs from both imported breeds was 37.41% higher than that of both native breeds.The imported breeds have higher body weights at all post natal stages compared to the native breeds and the differences were highly significant (p<0.0001).Body weight at different ages until weaning was significantly affected by the breed effect (p<0.0001). The difference in the body weight of male and female lambs were significantonly at the age of 30 days (p<0.05). Average daily gains from birth to weaning time of lambs were 0.0782 kg and 0.085 kg for Shkodrane e Lara e Polisit, respectively.