In several countries the Awassi has
been crossed with other breeds of sheep. In some cases Awassi rams, more
especially of the improved dairy type, have been mated with ewes of local
unimproved breeds for the purpose of increasing the milk yields of their
progeny. In others, rams of European origin have been used for cross-breeding
with the Awassi to improve certain features in which the Awassi does not meet
modern economic requirements.
Generally,
cross-breeding with the Awassi has been conducted under experimental
conditions. The tests have been of a variable nature and the data on the
cross-breds have usually been restricted to the F1 generation.
East Friesian-Awassi cross-breds form an exception; these are being developed
into a new type on which a considerable amount of material has been
published.*
The cross-breeding of improved
Awassi rams from Israel with local Baluchi ewes in the Qazvin area of Iran
followed the same plan at the village level, in parallel with an intensively
managed demonstration flock, as that of crossing the Awassi with the Shal (see
p. 249).
In its purest form
the Baluchi occurs in the region of Kalat and the Bolan Pass in Pakistan and in
the area of Saravan in the southeastern corner of Iran. It is a large and very
hardy sheep, capable of withstanding long periods of drought, yet also suitable
for stall-feeding and fattening. The average live weight of adult rams is 44 kg
and of ewes 33 kg; the withers height of rams is 65 cm and of ewes 62 cm. The
head is large with a convex profile and long pendulous ears. The rams have
large horns curving in an open spiral, while the ewes are either polled or have
rudimentary scurs. The body is broad and fairly deep, the rump wide and
drooping to the short broad fat tail from which a thin end hangs down to the
hocks or the fetlocks. The udder is well shaped with large teats. The average
milk yield during the lactation period is 1.5-2.0 kg a day. The fleece consists
of long, coarse carpet wool with a strong admixture of hair. The annual fleece
weight ranges from 1.5 to 2.0 kg. The fleece is yellowish-white with many black
or brown patches. The oral part of the head is usually black (Epstein, 1970).
In the Qazvin area
the Baluchi is not of a pure type, but seems to have been influenced by
Ak-Karaman and Mor-Karaman sheep formerly introduced by immigrants from Turkey.
In contrast with the original type, the Baluchi rams of the Qazvin area are
usually polled. The average weight of 1 300 Baluchi ewes collected in the
villages of the Qazvin area was 34 kg and after fattening in feed-lots, 55 kg
(Wallach & Eyal, 1974).
Tables A-1 to A-5
give data recorded by Wallach and Eyal (1974) in Awassi, Baluchi and
Awassi-Baluchi F1 cross-breds.
———————
* Although not always representing
the sire in the mating, the Awassi has been given precedence in the Appendixes
in order to emphasize its importance in the cross.
TABLE A-4. Fate and disposal of Awassi, Baluchi and
Awassi-Baluchi cross-bred ewes of different ages; average annual percentages
for 4 years |
Age (years) |
bred |
% mortality from |
% culled because of |
Total |
|||
mastitis |
other diseases |
low milk yield |
barrenness |
disease |
miscellaneous |
|||
1 |
Awassi |
— |
2.6 |
— |
— |
2.1 |
0.8 |
5.5 |
Baluchi |
— |
2.1 |
2.1 |
— |
6.3 |
4.2 |
14.7 |
|
Cross-bred |
— |
— |
— |
— |
6.0 |
— |
6.0 |
|
2 |
Awassi |
0.6 |
1.8 |
8.5 |
3.6 |
10.9 |
0.6 |
26.0 |
Baluchi |
— |
— |
25.0 |
— |
3.6 |
— |
28.6 |
|
Cross-bred |
— |
3.2 |
3.2 |
— |
9.7 |
— |
16.1 |
|
3 and older |
Awassi |
0.5 |
3.8 |
18.1 |
2.7 |
5.5 |
0.5 |
31.1 |
Baluchi |
— |
3.0 |
11.3 |
0.7 |
2.7 |
3.6 |
21.3 |
|
Cross-bred |
— |
13.3 |
13.3 |
— |
— |
— |
26.6 |
|
Note. Numbers of ewes in
the flock at beginning of year given in Table A-5. |
Tables A-6 to A-10
give the average growth from birth to weaning of single and twin, male and
female Awassi, Baluchi and Awassi-Baluchi cross-bred lambs during four seasons
(1967-70).
Table A-11 gives the average, minimum and maximum milk yields of Awassi, Baluchi (designated as local) and Awassi-Baluchi cross-bred ewes as recorded in the demonstration flock of the Qazvin Development Area in 1969 (QDA, 1970). Table A-12 presents average lactation periods for three age groups of the cross-breds.
At the Ras El-Hekma Desert Research
Station in the western coastal desert of Egypt, Syrian Awassi and Hungarian
Merino rams have been crossed with Barki ewes with the aim of improving the
productivity of the Barki (Fig. A-1). The semi-nomadic
bedouin of this region depend mainly on sheep and goats for their income, but
the mutton and wool production of the local Barki sheep is unsatisfactory.
The Barki, also
called Arab, Bedouin, Libyan or Dernawi, is a very hardy fat-tailed breed, well
adapted to desert conditions. It is rather short-legged, narrow and flat-sided.
The average withers height is
65 cm, the average weight of rams 60 kg and of ewes 45 kg. Adult rams carry
heavy horns curved around semi-pendulous ears; the ewes are polled. The fleece
consists of carpet wool with over 8 percent kemp and a staple length of about 8
cm. The weight of the fleece is approximately 1.8 kg. The colour is white, the
white extending to the poll and upper part of the forehead, while the remaining
part of the head is either black, brown or red. The fat tail is flat; the thin
twisted terminal section extends to the hocks or fetlocks. The fecundity of the
ewes is low, the twinning rate rarely exceeding 5 percent (Epstein, 1970;
1971).
TABLE A-10. Average annual
milk yields in 2-4 years of three age groups of Awassi, Baluchi and
Awassi-Baluchi cross-bred ewes (kg) |
Age (years) |
Awassi |
Baluchi |
Cross-bred |
||
No. |
Yield |
No. |
Yield |
No. |
Yield |
|
1 |
95 |
222.5 |
14 |
70.4 |
13 |
121.6 |
2 |
129 |
267.8 |
26 |
146.2 |
28 |
186.7 |
3 and
older |
164 |
297.6 |
264 |
142.5 |
14 |
211.0 |
TABLE A-11. Average, minimum
and maximum milk yields of Awassi, Baluchi and Awassi-Baluchi cross-bred ewes | ||||||
Breed |
Age |
Number
of ewes |
Milk
yield (kg) |
|||
Average |
Minimum |
Maximum |
||||
Awassi |
Yearlings |
11 |
289 |
199 |
394 |
|
Adult
ewes |
67 |
333 |
139 |
593 |
||
Baluchi |
Yearlings |
18 |
148 |
71 |
233 |
|
Adult
ewes |
48 |
189 |
76 |
309 |
||
Cross-bred |
Yearlings |
16 |
200 |
134 |
280 |
TABLE A-12.
Average lactation lengths in 2-4 years of three age groups of Awassi, Baluchi
and Awassi-Baluchi cross-bred ewes | ||||||
Age
(years) |
Awassi |
Baluchi |
Cross-bred |
|||
Number |
Days |
Number |
Days |
Number |
Days |
|
1 |
99 |
214.9 |
14 |
146.7 |
13 |
154.5 |
2 |
129 |
219.3 |
26 |
199.1 |
24 |
204.5 |
3 and
older |
157 |
219.8 |
260 |
190.5 |
29 |
206.0 |
Figure A-1
Barki ram and ewe
Reciprocal first
crosses between Barki and Awassi, a few back-crosses to Awassi, and also a
small number of three-breed-cross lambs from mating Awassi rams to Merino-Barki
cross-bred ewes have been studied by Fahmy et al. (1968) (Table A-13).
The breeding animals were kept in fenced yards provided with ample shade. In
winter they were pastured for four to five months, the grazing being
supplemented by a pelleted concentrate ration of 750 g a day and an unlimited
quantity of wheat or barley straw. In summer they received about 500 g of
Egyptian clover in addition to the above concentrate and straw rations. The
lambs were weaned at an approximate age of 130 days, their feeding during the
post-weaning period consisting of straw and 250-500 g of pelleted concentrates.
The cross-bred
lambs developed well until weaning but were unsatisfactory at yearling age.
They were almost exactly intermediate between the pure-bred Awassi and Barki
parental stocks for all characteristics except fleece weight in which they
showed a decrease. The percentage increase over, or decrease from, the expected
mean of the parents was as follows: birth weight -2, weaning weight 0, yearling
weight 0, daily pre-weaning weight gain 1, daily post-weaning weight gain -2,
and greasy fleece weight-14.
Fahmy et al. (1968)
suggest that the lack of superiority of the cross-breds over the mean of the
parental breeds may be attributable to the insignificant genetic difference
between the geographically near and physically similar Barki and Awassi. It is
notable that in all characteristics studied these cross-breds were much
inferior to Merino-Barki cross-breds.
In view of the
special demand in Egypt for yearling rams raised on the range and fattened near
the large consumption centres, Galal et al. (1976) compared the feed-lot
performance and mutton yields of 11 male Awassi-Barki F1 cross-bred
rams with those of nine Syrian Awassi and 11 Barki pure-bred rams of similar age
and rearing. At the commencement of the fattening period of nine weeks, the
animals were about 15 months old. Weights were taken at the beginning and end
of fattening, and body measurements on the day of slaughter. The average daily
weight gains and total digestible nutrient requirements (TDN) for each 1-kg
gain were also recorded (Table A-14).
Contrary to the
Awassi-Barki cross-breds' lack of superiority to the mean of the parental
breeds in the growth test, in the fattening trial heterosis of the cross-breds
was highly conspicuous. The cross-breds were superior to the pure-bred rams in
initial live weight and daily weight gain. Their economic gains were larger
than those of the pure-bred Awassi and Barki rams. The Barki had the shortest
body length from withers to tail, the shallowest depth of chest and the
narrowest width, but in heart girth it exceeded the Awassi. In all these
measurements the cross-bred rams surpassed the pure-breds (Table A-15).
In dressing
percentage based on the warm carcass weight, the Awassi rams, owing to their
heavy fat tails, exceeded both the Barki and Awassi-Barki rams. But the
cross-breds surpassed the purebred Awassi and Barki rams in the dressing
percentage of the carcass without the fat tail (Galal et al., 1976).
All edible inner
organs were heavier in the Awassi-Barki cross-breds than in the pure-breds. In total quantity of separable tail, kidney and caul fat, the
cross-bred rams — with 3.3 kg — held an intermediate position between the
Awassi (4.4 kg) and Barki (2.2 kg).
The carcass
dimensions of the Awassi-Barki cross-bred rams exceeded those of the pure-bred
Awassi and Barki rams.
TABLE A-13. Average weights
and weight gains of Awassi-Barki F1 cross-bred lambs and F2
lambs by Awassi rams out of Awassi-Barki F1 cross-bred ewes |
Weight |
Awassi-Barki |
Awassi-Barki back-cross to Awassi |
|
Number |
Weight |
Number |
Weight |
|
Birth weight (kg) |
270 |
3.52 |
12 |
3.91 |
Weaning weight (kg) |
185 |
18.59 |
8 |
16.13 |
Yearling weight (kg) |
76 |
32.36 |
— |
— |
Daily pre-weaning weight gain (g) |
185 |
125 |
8 |
110 |
Daily post-weaning weight gain (g) |
76 |
53 |
— |
— |
Greasy fleece weight (kg) |
82 |
3.24 |
— |
— |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
In Cyprus, Awassi rams of the
improved dairy type were crossed with Chios ewes in the same tests and under
the same conditions under which the performance of Awassi x Cyprus Fat-tailed
cross-breds was studied in 1969/70 and 1970/71-1971/72 (
Tables A-16 to
A-18)
(Cyprus ARI, 1972; 1973; 1975).
The least squares
means for breed effects on live weights and post-weaning daily gains of
purebred Chios and Awassi and cross-bred Chios-Awassi lambs, studied by
Mavrogenis and Louca (1979), show that the cross-breds had a faster growth rate
and were heavier at 140 days than the pure-bred lambs (
Table A-19).
A comparison of
the lactation yield and milk constituents of Awassi-Chios cross-breds with
those of pure-bred Awassi and Chios ewes under different feeding-management systems
showed that the cross-breds, although inferior to the parent breeds' milk in
fat percentage, greatly exceeded both parent stocks in total quantities of
milk, fat and protein, indicating a high degree of heterosis (
Table A-20)
(Cyprus ARI, 1979).
TABLE A-17. Mean birth
weights and weight gains of male and female Awassi, Chios and cross-bred lambs,
1969/70 | ||||||
Sex and breed |
No.
of lambs |
Birth
weight (kg) |
Weaning
age (days) |
Weaning
weight (kg) |
140-day
weight (kg) |
Mean
daily weight gain (g) |
Male |
||||||
Awassi |
32 |
5.3 |
44.6 |
15.7 |
35.9 |
219 |
Chios |
17 |
4.5 |
44.9 |
12.7 |
32.3 |
199 |
Cross-bred |
27 |
4.6 |
45.7 |
15.2 |
38.6 |
243 |
Female |
||||||
Awassi |
22 |
5.0 |
42.0 |
14.8 |
33.6 |
204 |
Chios |
41 |
4.4 |
45.9 |
13.9 |
30.2 |
182 |
Cross-bred |
27 |
4.3 |
45.6 |
13.2 |
31.4 |
194 |
TABLE A-18. Mean birth
weights and weight gains of single and twin Awassi, Chios and cross-bred lambs,
1970/71-1971/72 |
Breed |
Birth |
No.
of lambs |
Birth
weight (kg) |
140-day
weight (kg) |
Mean
daily weight gain (g) |
Awassi |
Single |
90 |
5.06 |
29.6 |
175 |
Twin |
30 |
4.44 |
27.7 |
166 |
|
Chios |
Single |
62 |
4.75 |
32.5 |
198 |
Twin |
195 |
3.87 |
28.3 |
175 |
|
Cross-bred |
Single |
46 |
5.02 |
31.5 |
189 |
Twin |
122 |
3.84 |
28.0 |
173 |
TABLE A-19. Least squares
means for breed effects on live weights and post-weaning daily gains of Chios,
Awassi and Chios-Awassi cross-bred lambs | ||||
Breed |
No.
of lambs |
Weaning
weight (kg) |
140-day
weight (kg) |
Daily
weight gain (g) |
Chios |
401 |
11.4 |
33.7 |
217 |
Awassi |
103 |
12.4 |
35.0 |
222 |
Chios x Awassi |
25 |
11.4 |
35.6 |
236 |
Chios x Awassi-Chios |
57 |
12.1 |
36.2 |
228 |
TABLE A-20. Comparison of
lactation yield and milk constituents of Awassi-Chios cross-breds with those of
purebred Awassi and Chios ewes |
Breed |
No |
Milk
yield per lactation (kg) |
Length
of lactation (days) |
Fat |
Protein |
Average
daily milk yield (kg) |
|
% |
Kg |
% |
Kg |
|||||
Awassi |
212 |
141 |
150 |
6.7 |
9.5 |
6.0 |
8.5 |
0.94 |
Chios |
263 |
137 |
143 |
6.5 |
8.9 |
6.1 |
8.4 |
0.95 |
Awassi-Chios |
82 |
171 |
146 |
6.1 |
10.5 |
6.0 |
10.2 |
1.17 |
In Cyprus, Awassi
rams of the improved dairy type, imported from Israel, were crossed with Cyprus
Fat-tailed ewes (Figs A-2
and A-3) during the period 1969/70-1971/72 in order to
compare the performance of the cross-bred progeny with that of the pure-bred
parent stocks (Table A-21). The feeding and management of the lambs were
similar for the three groups. In 1969/70 the performance of male
and female lambs was recorded separately, while no distinction in birth weights
and weight gains was made between single and twin lambs (Table A-22). In the
test period, 1970/71-1971/72, the performance of single and twin lambs was recorded separately, while the sex of the lambs
was ignored (Table A-23) (Cyprus ARI, 1972; 1973; 1975).
The least squares
means for breed effects on live weights and post-weaning daily gains of
purebred Cyprus Fat-tailed and Awassi and cross-bred Awassi-Cyprus lambs,
studied by Mavrogenis and Louca (1979), show that the cross-breds had a faster
growth rate and were heavier at 140 days than the pure-bred lambs (Table A-24).
Table A-25 gives
the results of comparison of the quantity and constituents of the milk of
Awassi-Cyprus Fat-tailed cross-bred ewes with those of the pure-bred parent
stocks under intensive, semi-intensive and extensive feeding-management systems
(Cyprus ARI, 1979).
While the
percentages of fat and protein in the milk of the cross-bred ewes were lower
than the mean of the parent breeds in the same trial, the quantities of milk,
fat and protein for each lactation were considerably
higher than the averages of the pure-bred ewes.
Figure A-2. Cyprus Fat-tailed ewe. (Photograph by Dr S. Economides)
Figure A-3. Cyprus Fat-tailed sheep (after shearing) showing caudal conformation. (Photograph by Dr S. Economides)
TABLE A-21.
Numbers of births and lambs of Awassi, Cyprus Fat-tailed and cross-bred
sheep, 1969/70-1971/72 | |||
Breed |
Number
of lambings |
Number
of lambs |
Number
of lambs per lambing |
Awassi |
182 |
200 |
1.10 |
Cyprus Fat-tailed |
220 |
235 |
1.07 |
Cross-bred |
84 |
98 |
1.17 |
TABLE A-22.
Mean birth weights and weight gains of male and female Awassi, Cyprus
Fat-tailed and cross-bred lambs, 1969/70 |
Sex and breed |
No.
of lambs |
Birth
weight (kg) |
Weaning
age (days) |
Weaning
weight (kg) |
140-day
weight (kg) |
Mean
daily weight gain (g) |
Male |
||||||
Awassi |
32 |
5.3 |
44.6 |
15.7 |
35.9 |
219 |
Cyprus
Fat-tailed |
21 |
4.7 |
46.7 |
13.7 |
30.8 |
186 |
Cross-bred |
5 |
5.1 |
45.4 |
13.0 |
28.7 |
168 |
Female |
||||||
Awassi |
22 |
5.0 |
42.0 |
14.8 |
33.6 |
204 |
Cyprus
Fat-tailed |
18 |
4.3 |
46.8 |
13.2 |
25.1 |
144 |
Cross-bred |
5 |
4.6 |
47.6 |
14.2 |
29.8 |
183 |
TABLE A-23.
Mean birth weights and weight gains of single and twin Awassi, Cyprus
Fat-tailed and cross-bred lambs, 1970/71-1971/72 |
Breed |
Birth |
No.
of lambs |
Birth
weight (kg) |
140-day
weight (kg) |
Mean
daily weight gain (g) |
Awassi |
Single |
90 |
5.06 |
29.58 |
179 |
Twin |
30 |
4.44 |
27.67 |
165 |
|
Cyprus
Fat-tailed |
Single |
115 |
4.70 |
25.75 |
150 |
Twin |
25 |
4.20 |
23.75 |
140 |
|
Cross-bred |
Single |
58 |
5.18 |
28.64 |
168 |
Twin |
21 |
3.85 |
25.07 |
147 |
TABLE A-24.
Least squares means for breed effects on live weights and post-weaning daily
gains of Cyprus Fat-tailed, Awassi and Awassi-Cyprus Fat-tailed cross-bred
lambs |
Breed |
No.
of lambs |
Weaning
weight (kg) |
140-day
weight (kg) |
Daily
weight gain (g) |
Cyprus
Fat-tailed |
23 |
9.8 |
28.5 |
185 |
Awassi |
103 |
12.4 |
35.0 |
222 |
Awassi x Cyprus |
22 |
11.1 |
35.8 |
239 |
Awassi x Awassi-Cyprus |
18 |
12.2 |
38.2 |
243 |
TABLE A-25.
Comparison of milk of Awassi-Cyprus Fat-tailed cross-bred ewes with milk of
pure-bred parent stocks |
Breed |
No. |
Average milk yield per
lactation (kg) |
Average length of
lactation (days) |
Fat |
Protein |
Average
daily milkyield (kg) |
|
% |
Kg |
% |
Kg |
|||||
Awassi |
212 |
141 |
150 |
6.7 |
9.5 |
6.0 |
8.5 |
0.94 |
Cyprus
Fat-tailed |
60 |
65 |
106 |
7.1 |
4.6 |
6.0 |
3.9 |
0.61 |
Awassi-Cyprus
Fat-tailed |
35 |
122 |
134 |
6.7 |
8.2 |
6.5 |
7.9 |
0.91 |
Cross-breeding experiments with local Awassi ewes and
imported Finnish Landrace and Romanov rams have been conducted in Israel for
the purpose of increasing fecundity and the number of lambs marketed yearly for
each ewe, traits in which the pure-bred Awassi is unsatisfactory.
In an experiment
carried out by Goot et al. (1976), Awassi ewes were inseminated with
semen from
Finnish Landrace rams which have difficulty in serving fat-tailed ewes. The
ewes were fed concentrates and wheat straw, while their cross-bred lambs had
free access to a concentrate mixture until weaning at a weight of approximately
12 kg. Tables A-26 and A-27 give the data recorded.
Further
cross-breeding trials with Finnish Landrace rams and Awassi ewes for increased
meat production were conducted by Goot et al. (1978) in 1976/77 and
1977/78. The average length of the gestation period of 36 Awassi ewes
inseminated with Finnish Landrace semen was 149.2 days, and of two- to
four-year-old Finnish Landrace-Awassi F1 cross-bred ewes inseminated
with Finnish Landrace semen, 148.0 days. (See Table A-28.)
In early sexual
maturity and prolificacy, Finnish Landrace-Awassi females of the first
cross-bred generation or back-crosses to Finnish Landrace rams were superior to
Awassi ewe hoggets. Eighty-three percent of the F1 cross-breds and
58 percent of the back-cross ewes lambed as yearlings versus 30 percent of the
pure-bred Awassi females. The percentage of multiple births was only 3 percent
in the Awassi, but 28 percent in Finnish Landrace-Awassi F1
cross-breds and 50 percent in those derived from back-crosses to Finnish
Landrace rams. (See Table A-29.)
For all the
reproductive traits tested, two- to three-year-old Finnish Landrace-Awassi F1
cross-bred ewes greatly excelled hormone-treated Awassi ewes of the same age.
The average number of lambs born to each cross-bred ewe put to the ram was 1.52
versus 0.95 in the Awassi. Again, the percentage of multiple births in the lambings
of the F1 cross-breds was 59 and in the Awassi ewes 10.5. The lambs
born to Finnish Landrace-Awassi F1 cross-bred yearling ewes,
inseminated with Finnish Landrace semen, were smaller at birth and at 150 days
of age, and showed lower daily pre-weaning weight gains than those out of adult
ewes, as shown by the comparison in Table A-32 of data from Tables A-30 and
A-31 (see also Tables A-33 and A-34).
TABLE A-26.
Fecundity of Awassi and Finnish Landrace-Awassi cross-bred ewes (number of ewes and percentage of
lambings) |
Breed |
1
year of age |
2
years of age |
|||
Number |
|
Lambing
% |
Number |
|
Lambing
% |
|
Awassi |
142 |
|
33 |
96 |
|
86 |
Finn-Awassi
F1 cross-bred |
43 |
|
81 |
8 |
|
75 |
Percentage of twin lambings |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Awassi |
|
2 |
|
|
9 |
|
Finn-Awassi
F1 cross-bred |
|
20 |
|
|
67 |
|
Number of lambs per ewe put to the
ram Awassi |
|
0.3 |
|
|
0.9 |
|
Finn-Awassi
F1 cross-bred |
|
1.0 |
|
|
1.3 |
|
TABLE A-27.
Average weight and growth rate of Awassi and Finnish Landrace-Awassi cross-bred
lambs |
Breed |
Birth
weight |
Daily
pre-weaning weight gain (g) |
Daily
post-weaning weight gain (g) |
150-day
weight (kg) |
No.
of lambs |
Kg |
||||
Awassi |
38 |
4.5 |
211 |
230 |
39 |
Finn-Awassi F1 cross-bred |
132 |
4.1 |
227 |
273 |
42 |
TABLE A-28.
Reproductive performance of Awassi and Finnish Landrace-Awassi F1
and F2 cross-bred yearling ewes |
Breed |
No.
of ewes put to the ram |
Lambing
(%) |
Lambs
per ewe put to the ram (%) |
Multiple
births per lambing (%) |
Mean
lambing age (days) |
Mean
3rd day post-partum weight (kg) |
Awassi |
253 |
30 |
29 |
3 |
457 |
49 |
F1 cross-bred |
77 |
83 |
99 |
28 |
404 |
53 |
F2 back-cross |
24 |
58 |
88 |
50 |
397 |
52 |
TABLE A-29.
Reproductive performance of 2- and 3-year-old hormone-treated Awassi and
Finnish Landrace-Awassi F1 cross-bred ewes |
Breed |
Age |
No.
of ewes put to the ram |
Lambing
(%) |
Lambs
per ewe put to the ram (%) |
Multiple
births per lambing (%) |
Mean
3rd day post-partum weight (kg) |
Awassi |
2 |
96 |
85 |
93 |
9 |
57.0 |
Cross-bred |
2 |
56 |
91 |
146 |
59 |
58.7 |
Awassi |
3 |
90 |
87 |
98 |
12 |
58.2 |
Cross-bred |
3 |
35 |
97 |
162 |
59 |
58.9 |
TABLE A-30.
Average body weights and daily weight gains of Finnish Landrace-Awassi
cross-bred lambs by Finnish rams out of F1 cross-bred yearling ewes |
Sex |
Birth |
Birth
weight |
Weaning
weight |
Weaning
age (days) |
Daily
pre-weaning weight gain (g) |
Daily
post-weaning weight qain |
150-day
weight |
|||
Number |
kg |
Number |
kg |
Number |
kg |
Number |
kg |
||||
Male |
Single |
10 |
3.9 |
10 |
14.8 |
57.1 |
188 |
9 |
228 |
6 |
38.1 |
Twin |
16 |
2.9 |
7 |
12.6 |
56.0 |
167 |
7 |
252 |
4 |
37.9 |
|
Female |
Single |
16 |
3.7 |
16 |
14.8 |
58.2 |
190 |
12 |
270 |
9 |
39.8 |
Twin |
9 |
3.3 |
4 |
11.4 |
63.0 |
116 |
2 |
267 |
2 |
32.0 |
TABLE A-31.
Body weights and daily weight gains of Awassi and Finnish Landrace-Awassi F1
and F2 cross-bred lambs out of adult ewes |
Sex |
Birth |
Breed |
Birth
weight (kg) |
Weaning
weight (kg) |
Weaning
age (days) |
Daily
pre-weaning weight gain (g) |
Daily
21-day post-weaning weight gain (g) |
150-day
weight (kg) |
|
|
Awassi |
5.1 |
18.8 |
57.4 |
241 |
260 |
44.4 |
Male |
Single |
F1 cross-bred |
5.2 |
21.5 |
62.0 |
256 |
321 |
48.7 |
|
|
F2 cross-bred |
4.4 |
17.7 |
48.7 |
277 |
275 |
44.2 |
|
|
Awassi |
5.8 |
16.8 |
54.0 |
224 |
219 |
37.8 |
Female |
Single |
F1 cross-bred |
5.0 |
21.0 |
62.9 |
239 |
242 |
42.2 |
|
|
F2 cross-bred |
4.1 |
14.7 |
51.5 |
204 |
254 |
38.7 |
|
|
Awassi |
4.4 |
15.4 |
54.2 |
194 |
240 |
43.7 |
Male |
Twin |
F1 cross-bred |
3.6 |
16.4 |
65.2 |
202 |
317 |
44.4 |
|
|
F2 cross-bred |
3.5 |
14.8 |
53.8 |
208 |
285 |
41.2 |
|
|
Awassi |
3.7 |
13.4 |
51.3 |
177 |
293 |
44.5 |
Female |
Twin |
F1 cross-bred |
3.5 |
16.4 |
59.2 |
222 |
259 |
39.4 |
|
|
F2 cross-bred |
3.2 |
14.2 |
60.3 |
192 |
235 |
35.6 |
In two further fattening
trials on an all-concentrate diet lasting 84 and 56 days, there were no
statistically significant differences in daily gain, feed intake and feed
conversion between Finnish Landrace-Awassi F1 and F2,
East Friesian-Awassi Finnish Landrace-Awassi, East Friesian-Awassi Finnish
Landrace-Mutton Merino, and Australian Suffolk Finnish Landrace-Awassi
cross-breds. The performance of the progeny of Finnish Landrace-Awassi rams was
similar to those sired by East Friesian-Awassi rams. The pre-fattening conditions
of the lambs until weaning at 61-68 days, although involving significant
differences in type of birth, birth weight, weaning age and initial weight, did
not affect the daily gain during the trials (Goot et al., 1982).
The carcass weight
and composition of a male cross-bred lamb by a Finnish Landrace ram out of a
Finnish Landrace-Awassi F1 cross-bred ewe, which was fed, without
roughage, on an unlimited quantity of concentrates until slaughter at the age
of 177 days, were as shown in Table A-35 (Goot et al.,1978)
TABLE A-32.
Birth weights and pre-weaning and post-weaning weight gains of cross-bred
lambs by Finnish Landrace rams out of Finnish
Landrace-Awassi F1 cross-bred ewes |
Age of dam |
Sex of lamb |
Birth |
Birth
weight (kg) |
Daily
pre-weaning weight gain (g) |
Daily
8-week post-weaning weight gain (g) |
Yearling |
Male |
Single |
3.9 |
188 |
228 |
Twin |
2.9 |
167 |
252 |
||
Adult |
Male |
Single |
4.4 |
277 |
275 |
Twin |
3.5 |
208 |
285 |
||
Yearling |
Female |
Single |
3.7 |
190 |
270 |
Twin |
3.3 |
116 |
267 |
||
Adult |
Female |
Single |
4.1 |
204 |
255 |
Twin |
3.2 |
192 |
235 |
|
Nearly all
improved Awassi sheep of Israel are of haemoglobin type B (see p. 40), whereas
imported Finnish Landrace rams have a high frequency of A. In 49 Finnish
Landrace-Awassi F1 cross-breds, Gootwein and Goot (1979) found the
haemoglobin types in three successive years given in Table A-36.
The cross-breeding of Merino rams
and Awassi ewes has been carried out in the range of the Awassi mainly on an
experimental basis for the purpose of improving the quantity and quality of
lamb, mutton and wool.
TABLE A-35.
Carcass weight and composition of a male cross-bred lamb |
Carcass weight (kg) and dressing
percentage |
Carcass
composition (%) |
|||||||||
Slaughter weight |
41.0 |
Muscle |
|
54.9 |
|||||||
Hot carcass weight |
21.4 |
Carcass fat |
|
27.7 |
|||||||
Cold carcass weight |
20.9 |
Subcutaneous fat |
11.1 |
|
|||||||
Dressing percentage |
53.0 |
Intermuscular
fat |
16.6 |
|
|||||||
|
|
Bone |
|
14.4 |
|||||||
|
|
Waste |
|
2.9 |
|||||||
|
|
Dissection loss |
|
0.1 |
|||||||
|
Weight of body parts (g) |
||||||||||
Tail |
372 |
Liver |
705 |
||||||||
Head with horns |
2 120 |
Lungs with trachea |
625 |
||||||||
Unshorn skin |
4 120 |
Spleen |
55 |
||||||||
Blood |
1 720 |
Heart |
160 |
||||||||
Full stomach |
3 005 |
Pericardium |
120 |
||||||||
Empty stomach |
1 172 |
Kidneys |
120 |
||||||||
Kidney fat |
390 |
|
|
||||||||
Caul fat |
880 |
|
|
||||||||
Gut fat |
140 |
|
|
||||||||
Weight and composition of carcass
joints |
|||||||||||
Joint |
Weight
(kg) |
Bone
(%) |
Muscle
(%) |
Subcutaneous
fat |
Intermuscular fat |
Total |
Waste
and dissection loss (%) |
||||
Neck |
2.225 |
13.3 |
49.2 |
8.2 |
21.8 |
30.0 |
7.5 |
||||
Thorax |
5.203 |
17.7 |
44.6 |
6.4 |
27.4 |
33.8 |
3.9 |
||||
Shoulder |
2.165 |
14.8 |
61.8 |
13.2 |
11.1 |
24.3 |
0.9 |
||||
Loin |
2.150 |
10.7 |
52.2 |
15.7 |
18.4 |
34.1 |
3.0 |
||||
Psoas
muscles |
0.264 |
— |
82.2 |
— |
16.7 |
16.7 |
1.1 |
||||
Pelvis |
2.280 |
12.6 |
50.1 |
21.1 |
14.9 |
36.0 |
1.3 |
||||
Leg |
2.235 |
14.4 |
65.2 |
9.1 |
6.8 |
15.9 |
4.5 |
||||
TABLE A-36.
Frequencies of haemoglobin types A and B in Finnish Land-race-Awassi
cross-breds |
Year of birth |
AA |
AB |
BB |
Gene
frequency of A |
1973/74 |
|
3 |
3 |
0.25 |
1974/75 |
|
20 |
5 |
0.45 |
1975/76 |
1 |
17 |
|
0.53 |
At the Ras
El-Hekma Desert Research Station in the western coastal Egyptian desert, a
small number of Awassi rams of Syrian derivation were crossed with F1
cross-bred ewes descended from Hungarian Combing Wool Merino rams and Barki
ewes. Fahmy et al. (1968) recorded the birth weight and weight gains of
the cross-bred lambs in comparison with those of the three parental breeds
involved (Table A-37).
In Lebanon, at the
experimental farm of the American University of Beirut, a limited number of
matings between French Merino rams and Awassi ewes were arranged over a period
of four years mainly for the purpose of reducing the fat tail in slaughter
lambs.
The weight of the
tail as a percentage of the carcass weight was 8.95 in pure-bred male Awassi
lambs, 3.84 in Merino-Awassi F1 cross-breds, and 2.26 in
back-crosses to Merino rams (Table A-38).
TABLE A-37. Average weights
and weight gains of cross-bred Awassi-Merino-Barki and pure-bred Awassi,
Hungarian Combing Wool Merino and Barki lambs |
Weight |
Awassi-Merino-Barki |
Awassi |
Merino |
Barki |
||||
No. |
Weight |
No. |
Weight |
No. |
Weight |
No. |
Weight |
||
Birth-weight |
(kg) |
25 |
3.64 |
140 |
3.78 |
614 |
3.28 |
996 |
3.41 |
Weaning weight |
(kg) |
20 |
16.92 |
97 |
18.86 |
278 |
16.02 |
796 |
18.37 |
Yearling weight |
(kg) |
17 |
31.98 |
44 |
31.60 |
177 |
27.80 |
439 |
33.40 |
Daily pre-weaning weight gain |
(g) |
20 |
112 |
97 |
122 |
278 |
111 |
796 |
125 |
Daily post-weaning weight gain |
(g) |
17 |
54 |
44 |
51 |
177 |
42 |
439 |
57 |
TABLE A-38. Average weight
of fat tail in male Awassi and Merino-Awassi cross-bred lambs |
Breed composition |
No.
of lambs |
Age
(days) |
Live
weight (kg) |
Carcass
weight (kg) |
Dressing
percentage |
Tail
weight (kg) |
Tail
weight as % of carcass weight |
Awassi |
9 |
137 |
37.267 |
17.427 |
46.76 |
1.560 |
8.95 |
Merino-Awassi
F1 cross-bred |
4 |
122 |
38.896 |
20.697 |
53.21 |
0.794 |
3.84 |
Back-cross to Merino |
2 |
96 |
32.432 |
17.577 |
54.20 |
0.397 |
2.26 |
TABLE A-39. Iodine numbers
of fat from different body parts of Awassi lambs, Merino-Awassi F1
cross-breds, and back-crosses to Merino |
Breed
composition |
No.
of lambs |
Age |
Fat
source and iodine number |
||
Back |
Tail |
Mesenteric |
Kidney |
|||
Awassi |
10 |
150 |
44.74 |
51.44 |
38.12 |
37.64 |
Merino-Awassi F1
cross-bred |
3 |
137 |
47.11 |
53.25 |
41.11 |
42.11 |
Back-cross to Merino |
3 |
123 |
51.05 |
54.07 |
45.37 |
46.35 |
If tail weight in the carcass of
Awassi lambs was taken as 100, it decreased roughly in proportion to the share
of Awassi blood in the lambs; in those with 50 percent Awassi blood, the
percentage of the tail weight in the carcass was 42.90, and in lambs with a
share of 25 percent Awassi blood 25.25. From these results McLeroy, Ananian and
Kurdian (1959) concluded that a limited number of genes acting in an additive
manner were involved in fat-tail weight. They suggested further that the
sigmoid curvature in the coccygeal vertebrae of Awassi sheep represented a
simple homozygous recessive condition.
Fat samples taken
from various parts of the body of Awassi lambs, Merino-Awassi F1
cross-breds, and back-crosses to Merino showed an increasing iodine number as
the share of Merino in the breeding increased (Table A-39). The iodine number,
that is, the grams of iodine absorbed by 100 g of fat, is a measure of the
degree of the unsaturation of fatty acids contained in the fat, and of the
hardness and melting point of the fat. Generally, the internal fats are harder
than the external ones. McLeroy, Ananian and Kurdian (1959) suggest that the
relatively low iodine numbers of the fat of Awassi lambs may provide an
indication of the nature of the agreeable flavour of Awassi lamb and mutton.
Cross-breeding
experiments with German Mutton Merino rams and Awassi ewes have been conducted
in Israel on a moderate scale with the aim of improving fat lamb production in
which the Mutton Merino is superior to the Awassi.
In an experiment
to ascertain the optimal plane of nutrition and slaughter weight, 45 male
Mutton Merino-Awassi F1 cross-bred lambs of an average initial
weight of 49 kg were divided into three groups of 15 each and fattened on three
different planes of nutrition for 5½
months, at the end of which they weighed 77, 85 and 86 kg, respectively, on
average. The mean daily weight gains of the three groups during the fattening
period were 181, 232 and 243 g. A fourth group of 15 lambs commenced the same
fattening period at an average weight of 62 kg and ended it at 95 kg, the daily
weight gains during the trial period averaging 215 g. Folman et al. (1966)
concluded that Mutton Merino-Awassi cross-bred lambs
could be fattened up to a weight of 85 kg without a decrease in the rate of
weight gain and with only a slight reduction in the conversion rate of the feed
toward the end of the fattening period.
In another
experiment conducted by Folman, Eyal and Benjamin (1967), 48 male Mutton
Merino-Awassi F1 cross-bred lambs were divided into four
equal groups with average initial weights ranging from 39.2 to 41.3 kg and were
fed on different high to very high planes of nutrition. At the end of the
fattening period of seven months, the average weights of the lambs in the four
groups amounted to 80.7-83.3 kg, the daily weight gains during this period
varying between 204 and 233 g. In this trial both the rate of weight gain and
feed conversion decreased toward the end of the fattening period.
From the second
trial series Goot, Folman and Eyal (1967) selected 21 lambs to determine the
loss in weight in transit from farm to slaughterhouse and during 18 hours of
abstention from feed and water. In addition, the carcass weight and the weights
of different parts and organs of the lambs were recorded immediately after
slaughter (for comparison with male Awassi lambs used in the same experiment,
see p. 191) (Tables A-40 and A-41 and Fig. A-4). The
mean shrinkage in transit from farm to slaughterhouse and the weight loss
during 18 hours without feed and water amounted to 5.6 kg, or 7.3 percent.
TABLE A-40. Mean live and
carcass weights of 21 male Awassi-Mutton Merino cross-bred lambs (kg) |
Age |
Live
weight |
Warm
carcass weight |
Carcass
yield (%) |
|
On
farm |
Before
slaughter (in wool) |
Before
slaughter (shorn) |
|||
226 |
77.2 |
71.6 |
70.3 |
38.8 |
54.1 |
TABLE A-41. Mean weights of inner organs, kidney and
caul fat, and tail of 21 male Awassi-Mutton Merino crossbred lambs (kg) |
Live
weight |
Liver,
lungs and heart |
Kidneys |
Kidney
fat |
Caul fat |
Total
kidney and caul fat |
Fat
tail |
71.6 |
2.5 |
0.159 |
1.7 |
4.0 |
5.7 |
2.0 |
The average fleece
weight of the 21 lambs examined by Goot, Folman and Eyal was 1.3 kg, or 1.8
percent, of the weight of the unshorn lambs. The cold carcass weight was
estimated at 2 percent less than the warm carcass weight. The slaughter yield
without inner organs and fat tail amounted to 54.1 percent; the addition of the
edible inner organs increased it to 57.8 percent, and of the inner organs and
fat tail to 60.5 percent.
The three heaviest
lambs were selected for an analysis of their carcass composition, for which
one-half of each carcass was used. The average live weight of these lambs on
the farm of origin was 80.3 kg; shearing and shrinkage in transit and during
the period of abstention from feed and water prior to slaughter reduced it to
74.2 kg. (See Tables A-42 to A-44.) The ratio of subcutaneous to intermuscular
fat in the trunks of the Awassi-Mutton Merino cross-bred lambs was 50:50.
The amount of
intramuscular fat, which exists in addition to the subcutaneous and intermuscular
fat, can only be determined by chemical analysis. Tables A-45 and A-46 give the
chemical composition of the 'eye muscles' and energy value of muscle and fat of
heavy male Awassi-Mutton Merino cross-bred lambs.
In two male lambs
sired by Mutton Merino rams out of Finnish Landrace-Awassi cross-bred ewes,
Goot et al. (1978) recorded a mean birth weight of 3.8 kg, a daily
weight gain from birth to slaughter at six months of 204 g, and during a
fattening period of 98 days, 263 g. These gains were regarded as
unsatisfactory. Table A-47 gives the weights of the carcasses and some body
parts of the two lambs.
The carcasses of
the cross-bred lambs were shorter than those of the male Awassi lambs of
similar age and rearing. As compared with Awassi analogues, the weight of the
tail of the cross-breds was reduced by 4.283 kg, or over 96 percent. The cold
carcass weight was 11 percent and the weight of the muscle 2 percent higher,
whereas that of the total carcass fat was 4.25 percent lower. While in the
Awassi carcasses the ratio of subcutaneous to intermuscular fat was as 1:0.66,
in those of the crossbred lambs it was as 1:1.99. In the carcasses of the
cross-breds the loin, pelvis and leg were leaner and the neck was fatter than
in those of the Awassi lambs (Goot et al., 1978).
Figure A-4. Weight of kidney and caul fat and fat tail in relation to live
weight of Awassi-Mutton Merino cross-bred lambs. (Source: Goot, Folman & Eyal, 1967)
|
|
In a reciprocal cross-breeding
experiment between Awassi and Kurdi sheep in Iraq, Guirgis et al. (1978)
studied the effects of breed, sex, type of birth, and heterosis on length,
diameter, type ratio and medullation of wool.
The Kurdi is a
fat-tailed sheep, bred on the high plateaux and in the mountains of Kurdistan
in northern Iraq. The head of the ram is slightly convex in profile and that of
the ewe long and straight. The ears are pendulous; both sexes are polled. The
thin end of the tail emerging from the fat cushion reaches nearly to the ground
(Williamson, 1949). The majority of Kurdi sheep have a yellowish-white fleece,
but some are variegated. The head and legs are usually black, occasionally
brown. The fleece is longer and coarser than that of the Awassi sheep of Iraq
(Gillespie, 1943).
Wool samples were
taken from the mid-side of pure-bred Awassi and Kurdi and their reciprocal
cross-breds at the weaning age of four months and at 12 months, and the length
and diameter of the fibres were measured (Table A-48). Pure-bred Kurdi sheep
had the longest fibres at both ages of study. The reciprocal crosses showed
more or less intermediate values between the parental breeds, the monthly
growth rates of fibres between the ages of four and 12 months amounting to 8.8
mm in Awassi, 9.9 mm in Kurdi, 8.6 mm in
Awassi-Kurdi and 9.2 mm in Kurdi-Awassi on average. The Awassi and Kurdi
exceeded the cross-breds in variability of fibre length at the age of a year.
TABLE A-44.
Distribution of bone, muscle and fat tissue in various parts of the carcass
of three male Awassi-Mutton Merino cross-bred lambs (%) | ||||||
|
Bone |
Muscle |
Subcutaneous
fat |
Intermuscular
fat |
Total
fat |
Weight
loss |
Neck |
9.6 |
40.9 |
15.3 |
31.7 |
47.0 |
2.5 |
Breast |
12.1 |
39.4 |
13.6 |
33.3 |
46.9 |
1.6 |
Right shoulder |
11.1 |
50.6 |
23.1 |
13.6 |
36.7 |
1.6 |
Loin |
6.0 |
36.7 |
34.6 |
22.0 |
56.6 |
0.7 |
Psoas muscles |
— |
67.4 |
— |
30.9 |
30.9 |
1.7 |
Pelvis |
8.4 |
39.9 |
31.4 |
18.2 |
49.6 |
2.1 |
Thigh |
10.3 |
57.9 |
20.9 |
7.9 |
28.8 |
3.0 |
|
Heterosis in fibre
length in the reciprocal crosses was small and insignificant at both ages,
owing, as Guirgis et al. (1978) suggest, to genetic similarity between
the Awassi and Kurdi. The maternal influence, measured as the difference
between the two cross-bred types, was also small and insignificant. The
distribution of fibre length showed two peaks in different frequencies, the
bimodality being most marked in the Kurdi and least in the Awassi (Fig. A-5). The Awassi-Kurdi cross-breds were closer to the Kurdi, and the Kurdi-Awassi cross-breds closer to the
Awassi.
In fibre diameter
the reciprocal crosses occupied an intermediate position between the parent
breeds at the age of a year. The effect of heterosis on fibre diameter was
significant at both ages studied, that is, four and 12 months. The Awassi had
the highest percentage of fine fibres and the Kurdi the highest of coarse
fibres (Table A-49). In the frequency of fine, coarse
and kemp fibres, the Kurdi-Awassi cross was closer to the Awassi and the
Awassi-Kurdi cross-bred closer to the Kurdi.
The medullation of
fibres was highest in the Kurdi and lowest in the Awassi and Kurdi-Awassi wool
samples. The Awassi-Kurdi had a higher medullation of fibres than the
reciprocal cross.
On the dairy sheep farms of the
Malpica estates of Malpica-Tajo near Toledo, improved Awassi rams imported from
Israel in 1971 and 1974, or bred in Spain from imported stock, have been
crossed with several thousand local ewes. Welham (1976) estimated the numbers
of F1 cross-breds by Awassi rams out of Talavera and Mancha
ewes at 15 000, and from Churro and Castilian ewes at 25 000. Now a large
variety of Awassi crosses, called Malpica, occurs throughout Spain, and
particularly in the Toledo province.
For fat lamb
production the cross-bred lambs are superior to pure-bred lambs of the Spanish
breeds. Talavera or Mancha lambs show an average weight gain of 214 g a day,
while that of Awassi-Talavera or Mancha cross-breds amounts to 257 g. The
pure-bred native lambs show a check in growth at 28-29 kg, but the
Awassi-Talavera or Mancha cross-breds will grow well to 32 kg. The advantages
shown by Awassi-Churro cross-breds over pure-bred Churro lambs are even
greater. The fat tail development of the various F1 cross-breds is
negligible, the fat covering weighing only 150 g on average.
The Mancha ewe has advantages over the Awassi, such as a very short or
non-existent anoestrus period, higher lambing percentages, and superior carcass
and wool qualities. However, compared with 80-95 kg of milk obtained from
Mancha ewes during their lactation period, the yields obtained from Awassi-Mancha
F1 cross-breds by machine milking are considerably higher, namely
180 kg in an average lactation of 170 days from yearling ewes, and 210 kg in
200 days from two-year-old ewes. Under the same conditions pure-bred Awassi
yearlings yielded 348 kg of milk in 232 days and two-year-old ewes 410 kg in
264 days, the overall average, including ewes lambing at 12-13 months of age,
coming to 356 kg in 234 days.
TABLE A-47. Mean weights of
carcasses and body parts of two male lambs (kg) |
Mean carcass weight and dressing
percentage |
Mean carcass composition (%) |
|||||||
Slaughter weight |
41.0 |
Muscle |
53.1 |
|
|||||
Hot carcass weight |
21.0 |
Carcass fat |
29.8 |
|
|||||
Cold carcass weight |
20.5 |
Subcutaneous fat |
9.9 |
|
|
||||
Dressing percentage |
51.5 |
Intermuscular
fat |
19.9 |
|
|
||||
|
Bone |
15.3 |
|
||||||
|
Waste |
1.4 |
|
||||||
|
Dissection loss |
0.4 |
|
||||||
Mean weight of different body
parts (g) |
|||||||||
Tail |
152 |
Liver |
656 |
|
|||||
Head with horns |
2 130 |
Lungs with trachea |
700 |
|
|||||
Unshorn skin |
4 225 |
Spleen |
143 |
|
|||||
Blood |
1 800 |
Heart |
176 |
|
|||||
Full stomach |
4 250 |
Pericardium |
102 |
|
|||||
Empty stomach |
2 058 |
Kidneys |
123 |
|
|||||
Kidney fat |
282 |
|
|||||||
Caul fat |
815 |
|
|||||||
Gut fat |
332 |
|
|||||||
Mean weight and composition of
different carcass joints |
|||||||||
Joint (kg) |
Weight |
Bone (%) |
Muscle
(%) |
Subcutaneous
fat (%) |
Intermuscular fat (%) |
Total
fat (%) |
Waste
and dissection loss (%) |
||
Neck |
1.923 |
16.6 |
46.4 |
4.5 |
27.3 |
31.8 |
5.2 |
||
Thorax |
4.964 |
18.3 |
44.3 |
7.6 |
28.6 |
36.2 |
1.2 |
||
Shoulder |
2.025 |
15.9 |
54.3 |
10.0 |
19.5 |
29.5 |
0.3 |
||
Loin |
2.036 |
10.4 |
54.2 |
15.4 |
18.7 |
34.1 |
1.3 |
||
Psoas
muscles |
0.240 |
— |
81.2 |
— |
15.8 |
15.8 |
3.0 |
||
Pelvis |
2.605 |
11.8 |
46.8 |
20.2 |
18.5 |
38.7 |
2.7 |
||
Leg |
2.225 |
15.8 |
67.3 |
6.8 |
8.7 |
15.5 |
1.4 |
||
TABLE A-48. Fibre length and
diameter of wool from 4- and 12-month-old Awassi, Kurdi, Awassi-Kurdi and Kurdi-Awassi
sheep |
Breed |
Weaning age |
1 year of age |
|||
No. of samples |
Fibre
length (cm) |
Diameter
(H) |
No. of samples |
Fibre
length (cm) |
Diameter |
|
Awassi |
49 |
6.48 |
32.76 |
32 |
12.78 |
35.74 |
Kurdi |
12 |
6.92 |
34.22 |
7 |
14.83 |
40.69 |
Awassi-Kurdi cross-bred |
25 |
6.51 |
37.23 |
11 |
13.42 |
37.72 |
Kurdi-Awassi cross-bred |
25 |
6.38 |
37.08 |
18 |
13.73 |
39.35 |
TABLE A-49. Mean percentages
of fibre types in Awassi, Kurdi, Awassi-Kurdi and Kurdi-Awassi wool |
Breed |
Fine
fibres |
Coarse
fibres |
Heterotypes |
Kemp |
Awassi |
57.1 |
42.4 |
1.2 |
0.13 |
Kurdi |
34.8 |
61.4 |
2.0 |
0.87 |
Awassi-Kurdi cross-bred |
49.8 |
47.5 |
1.7 |
0.80 |
Kurdi-Awassi cross-bred |
54.9 |
43.6 |
1.5 |
0.22 |
Eighty-four
percent of Mancha ewes, inseminated with semen from Awassi rams, lamb three
times in two years, but the cross-bred ewes do not. Welham (1976) considers the
F1 cross as the most suitable one commercially, adding, however,
that with high milk prices the higher-yielding but less prolific Awassi-Mancha
F2 cross-breds may be acceptable. The udders of Awassi-Mancha or
Talavera F2 cross-breds are noticeably larger than those of the F1
cross-bred ewes.
In Yugoslavia, Awassi rams of
improved dairy stock, imported from Israel in 1969 and 1970, have been crossed
with Ovče Polje and Kosovo ewes for improvement of milk production of the local
breeds. The Ovče Polje, a variety of Pramenka type, is bred in eastern
Macedonia for mutton, milk and wool. Rams are horned and ewes usually polled.
The carpet wool fleece is white, occasionally black or grey. The head and legs
are partly or wholly black or brown. The Kosovo is bred in the southern part of
Serbia for meat. Like the Ovče Polje, it is of the coarse-wooled Pramenka type.
Both rams and ewes are usually polled. The fleece is commonly white with a
black face and legs (Mason, 1969).
In 1974/75 a
random group of 23 yearling ewes was picked from a flock of Awassi-Ovče Polje F1
cross-bred sheep kept on a large farm of the socialist sector in
Macedonia. In accordance with general practice in Yugoslavia, the animals were
not specially prepared for freshening. After lambing they remained with their
lambs until they were weaned at 28 days. Thereafter the ewes were transferred
to a shed where they received 600 g of concentrates and an unlimited quantity
of green fodder a day.
The milk was
recorded once a month. The average production in a lactation of 163 days was
83.981 with a maximum yield of 114.751. The daily average was 515 ml, 605 ml at
the first control and 408 ml at the sixth. Lactation yieras of the ewes were
very variable as shown by the wide range in gradations of 101 (Table A-50).
Records of average
lactation and daily yields of pure-bred Ovče Polje ewes have been 72.49 1 in
191 days, with an average of 378 ml a day (Taškovski, 1962); 92.601 in 199
days, with a daily average of 464 ml; 64.38 kg in 162 days, with 361 g a day on
average. As pure-bred Awassi ewes of the improved dairy type yield considerably
larger quantities of milk, the relatively low production of the 23 cross-bred
yearling ewes must be attributed to the lack of nutritional preparation for
freshening that prevented them from displaying their full genetic capacity in
yield (Tokovski, Šokarovski & Jordanovski, 1977a).
TABLE A-50. Number of ewes
per gradation of 10-l lactation yield |
Lactation
yield (I) |
Number
of ewes |
25-35 |
1 |
36-45 |
1 |
46-55 |
4 |
56-65 |
1 |
66-75 |
1 |
76-85 |
4 |
86-95 |
2 |
96-105 |
6 |
106-115 |
3 |
In 1975/76 the
milk of 16 Awassi-Ovče Polje F1
cross-bred and 12 pure-bred Ovče Polje
ewes in their second lactation was recorded by Tokovski, Šokarovski and Jordanovski (1977b). The ewes
were again picked from a larger flock at random and were not specially prepared
for freshening, but during lactation they received 400 g of concentrates and
lucerne hay ad libitum a day. The lambs were weaned at the age of 28
days, and the milk of the ewes was recorded for a period of 180 days during
which the cross-breds yielded 128.541 at each lactation and 714 ml a day on
average, and the Ovče Polje control
animals 65.42 1 of milk for each lactation and 363 ml a day. The cross-breds,
therefore, yielded 96.5 percent more milk than the pure-bred Ovče Polje ewes, but only 36.7 percent of the
3501 accepted by the authors as the standard production of the improved Awassi
dairy type.
In 1976, in a
third study on Awassi-Ovče Polje F1
cross-breds in Macedonia, 15 ewes in the second half of pregnancy were selected
from a flock at pasture according to phenotype and were steamed up for
lactation. The average yield was 195.41 in 184 days, the daily average 1.061,
and the maximum daily average 1.621, confirming that the low lactation yields
obtained in the first two trials were a result of insufficient nutritional
preparation of the ewes for freshening. The average fat content of the milk of
the cross-bred ewes was 7 percent (Todorovski, Tokovski & Lakićević,
1979).
In 1978/79 two
studies of the milk yields of Awassi-Kosovo F1 cross-bred
ewes were made at Kosovo-Polje in southern Serbia, one during the first and the
other one during the second lactation. In the first trial the ewes were kept in
conditions of mediocre management but sound veterinary care on pastures and
harvested grain fields near the shed, and received an additional ration of 150
g of dried shredded beetroots a day. The average yield in a lactation of 174.1
days was 199.651 and the average daily yield 1.15 1 of milk with a fat content
of 6.97 percent.
In their second
lactation period, the Awassi-Kosovo F1 cross-bred ewes produced
261.811 of milk with an average fat content of 6.99 percent; the daily yield
was 1.491 on average. These yields compare with an average production of 95 1
milk for each lactation obtained from pure-bred Kosovo ewes (Todorovski,
Tokovski & Lakićević, 1979).
In a study of the
wool characteristics of 19 Awassi-Ovče
Polje F1 cross-bred ewes, Todorovski and Bakalovska (1978b) measured
the length, fineness, tensile strength and elasticity of fibres. The same
measurements of wool from pure-bred Awassi ewes, taken by Todorovski and
Bakalovska (1978a) in Macedonia and of pure-bred Ovče Polje sheep, recorded by Taškovski
(1962), are given for comparison (Table A-51).
The great
difference in the length of wool between Awassi-Ovče Polje cross-bred and Awassi and Ovče Polje pure-bred ewes is attributed by the authors to different
methods of measurement. The measurements of wool samples taken from different
parts of the body of Awassi-Ovče Polje
cross-bred ewes differ (Table A-52).
The Cyprian mouflon or agrinon (Ovis
ammon ophion), of which less than a hundred survive in the Paphos forest of
the Troödos Mountains, stands
approximately 65 cm at the shoulder and weighs 30-40 kg (Fig. A-6). The colour of the short summer coat is bright red,
with a lighter ventral part and some whitish hair on the sides of the back. In
the winter coat a short dark throat ruff and a whitish saddle patch appear,
while the general colour of the coat changes from foxy red to brown. The horns
reach a length of 60 cm; the prick ears and tail are short (Lydekker, 1912;
FAO, 1974).
TABLE A-51.
Characteristics of wool from Awassi-Ovče
Polje F1 cross-bred and Awassi and Ovče Polje pure-bred ewes in Macedonia |
Breed |
Staple length (mm) |
Fineness
(μ) |
Tensile
strength |
Elasticity (%) |
Awassi-Ovče Polje F1 cross-bred |
51.6 |
32.8 |
29.0 |
82.9 |
Awassi |
84.5 |
36.9 |
31.6 |
85.8 |
Ovče Polje |
134.8 |
33.2 |
29.9 |
41.0 |
TABLE A-52.
Measurements of wool from different parts of body of Awassi-Ovče Polje F1 cross-bred ewes |
|
Staple
length (mm) |
Fineness
(μ) |
Tensile
strength |
Elasticity |
Shoulder |
34.9 |
31.2 |
28.2 |
82.9 |
Ribs |
50.9 |
31.7 |
28.3 |
88.3 |
Thigh |
69.0 |
35.7 |
30.5 |
77.7 |
Average |
51.6 |
32.8 |
29.0 |
82.9 |
A flock of about
40 adult mouflon rams and ewes is kept in semicaptivity at the forestry station
of Stavros Psokas. As the animals are extremely timid, their domestication is considered
to be a most difficult task. It was therefore decided
to develop a domesticated flock from a cross of mouflon rams and domestic ewes,
followed by crossing back to the mouflon. Natural mating was unsuccessful;
hence fresh undiluted semen of mouflon rams, collected by electro-ejaculation,
was used for the insemination of Awassi, Chios and a few Finnish Landrace ewes.
Of these, only two Awassi ewes held to the service, and one male and one female
hybrid were born after gestation periods of 150 and 151 days, respectively, the
male lamb weighing 4.7 kg and the female 3.7 kg at birth. In comparison, the
birth weight of contemporary single male Awassi lambs at the same station
averaged 5.6 kg and of single females 5.3 kg. At five weeks the male hybrid reached
a weight of 12 kg, compared with an average weight of 14.6 kg for single male
Awassi lambs under the same conditions.
The appearance of
the hybrids is startingly unlike their Awassi dams. In the shape of the head
and ears, the hairy coat and length and weight of the tail, they resemble their
mouflon sire. In contrast with the typical Awassi tail, the tail of the hybrid
is thin and short, reaching a length of 10 cm at the age of ten weeks.
The aim is to
obtain at least 30 hybrids in order to estimate the meat quality of the males
with special reference to its suitablity for the tourist trade (FAO, 1974).
Only a small number of trials have
been conducted with Romanov-Awassi cross-breds. In general there were no
statistically significant differences between the cross-bred progeny of
Romanov-Awassi and Finnish Landrace-Awassi matings (Goot et al., 1978).
The average length of pregnancy of 38 Awassi ewes inseminated with Romanov
semen was 149.6 days. The percentage of multiple births in the lambings of
two-year-old Romanov-Awassi F1 cross-bred ewes was 80. (See Tables A-53 and A-54.)
In a fattening
trial on an all-concentrate ration with five Romanov-Awassi F2
cross-bred lambs of an initial age of 67.6 days and a weight of 16.1 kg, the
final weight after 84 test days was 50.7 kg on average, the daily gain 412 g,
the dry matter intake 1.5 kg a day, and the feed conversion 3.6 kg of dry
matter for each 1-kg gain. The performance of the progeny of the Romanov-Awassi
rams was similar to that of Finnish Landrace-Awassi and East Friesian-Awassi
rams included in the same trial (Goot et al., 1982) (see Table A-55).
|
TABLE A-54. Average body weights
and daily weight gains of Romanov-Awassi F1 cross-bred lambs |
Sex |
Birth |
Birth weight |
150-day weight |
Daily
pre-weaning weight gain |
8-weeks'
post-weaning daily weight gain |
Birth-to-150-days'
daily weight gain |
|
Number |
Kg |
Number |
Kg |
|||||
Male |
Single |
25 |
5.5 |
21 |
49.8 |
280 |
316 |
298 |
Twin |
14 |
3.8 |
9 |
43.6 |
206 |
251 |
290 |
|
Female |
Single |
20 |
5.3 |
15 |
40.6 |
231 |
227 |
236 |
Twin |
7 |
3.7 |
6 |
31.9 |
140 |
186 |
211 |
In an effort to increase the milk
production of Iranian sheep, an improvement programme was started in the Qazvin
area, which is situated in the northwestern corner of the central Iranian
plateau, west of Tehran. The breeding plan included the crossing of improved
Awassi sheep, imported from Israel in 1965 and 1966, with Baluchi and Shal
sheep bred in the Qazvin area. The Shal is a local variety of fat-tailed sheep
common in the village of Shal and a few neighbouring villages. It is of a
fairly large size, black or brown in colour, and reputed to be highly fertile.
Breeding work in
the demonstration flock included 100 Awassi and 100 Shal sheep of mixed age.
The animals were mainly stall-fed, natural or sown pasture making up less than
20 percent of the total ration at any time. The breeding season, during which
the ewes were inseminated, lasted from September to December. For 10-14 days
after lambing, the ewes were not milked but stayed with their lambs. After this
period the ewes were milked twice a day. On completion of each milking they
were joined by their lambs for residue suckling, beginning with six hours twice
a day at the age of three weeks, gradually decreasing to one hour after each
milking during the ninth week, and ending with five minutes twice a day from
the thirteenth to the sixteenth week. The data recorded by Wallach and Eyal
(1974) in Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal F1 cross-breds are given in
Tables A-56 to A-60.
In four seasons
(1967-70) the average growth from birth to weaning of single and twin, male and
female Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal cross-bred lambs was as given in Tables
A-61 and A-62.
The average daily
weight gains of the lambs from the time of weaning to sale for slaughter are
given in Table A-63. The average lengths of this period were 68 and 100 days
for single male and female
lambs, respectively, and 73 and 90 days for twin male and female lambs. (The
numbers of lambs in the different categories were the same as those in Tables
A-61 and A-62.) Table A-64 gives the mortality figures of male and female
Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal ewes and Table A-65 gives the average annual milk yield
for the three groups of ewes. Table A-66 gives the average, minimum and maximum
milk yields of Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal F1 and F2 cross-bred ewes as recorded in the demonstration flock of the Qazvin
Development Area in 1969 (QDA, 1970). Table A-67 gives average lactation
lengths for three age groups of Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal cross-bred ewes.
TABLE A-58. Average fleece
weights of adult Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal cross-bred ewes at Esmailabad
Demonstration Farm, 1967 and 1968 (kg) |
Breed |
1967 |
1968 |
|
Number
of ewes |
Fleece
weight |
Number
of ewes |
Fleece
weight |
|
Awassi |
100 |
2.95 |
111 |
2.43 |
Shal |
97 |
1.99 |
90 |
2.04 |
Cross-bred |
52 |
2.62 |
35 |
2.20 |
TABLE A-57. Average body
weights of Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal cross-bred ewes at the end of the
lambing season (kg) | ||||||
Breed |
2
years |
3
years and older |
||||
Number |
Days
from lambing |
Weight |
Number |
Days
from lambing |
Weight |
|
Awassi |
33 |
82 |
68.3 |
53 |
94 |
74.6 |
Shal |
7 |
88 |
74.4 |
58 |
98 |
73.3 |
Cross-bred |
18 |
96 |
69.9 |
25 |
100 |
74.0 |
TABLE A-59. Fate and
disposal of Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal cross-bred ewes of different ages;
average annual percentages for 4 years |
Age |
Breed |
%
mortality from |
%
culled because of |
Total |
|||
mastitis |
other diseases |
low
milk yield |
barrenness |
disease |
miscellaneous |
|||
1 |
Awassi |
— |
2.6 |
— |
— |
2.1 |
0.8 |
5.5 |
Shal |
— |
9.8 |
— |
— |
5.9 |
— |
15.7 |
|
Cross-bred |
— |
— |
— |
— |
2.0 |
2.0 |
4.0 |
|
2 |
Awassi |
0.6 |
1.8 |
8.5 |
3.6 |
10.9 |
0.6 |
26.0 |
Shal |
— |
8.0 |
12.0 |
4.0 |
12.0 |
4.0 |
40.0 |
|
Cross-bred |
2.1 |
— |
6.3 |
— |
— |
— |
8.4 |
|
3 and
more |
Awassi |
0.5 |
3.8 |
18.1 |
2.7 |
5.5 |
0.5 |
31.1 |
Shal |
— |
3.2 |
14.9 |
0.9 |
2.8 |
1.2 |
23.0 |
|
Cross-bred |
— |
4.8 |
14.3 |
— |
4.8 |
— |
23.9 |
|
Note. Numbers of ewes in the flock at beginning of year given in Table A-60. |
TABLE A-60. Reproductive performance of Awassi, Shal
and Awassi-Shal cross-bred ewes of different ages for 4 years | ||||||
Age |
Breed |
No. of ewes |
Lambs born |
Lambs per |
ewe (%) |
|
In flock |
Lambed |
In flock |
Lambing |
|||
|
Awassi |
234 |
100 |
102 |
0.44 |
1.02 |
1 |
Shal |
51 |
11 |
12 |
0.24 |
1.09 |
|
Cross-bred |
50 |
30 |
36 |
0.72 |
1.20 |
|
Awassi |
165 |
141 |
151 |
0.92 |
1.07 |
2 |
Shal |
25 |
22 |
24 |
0.96 |
1.09 |
|
Cross-bred |
48 |
46 |
52 |
1.08 |
1.13 |
|
Awassi |
182 |
173 |
217 |
1.19 |
1.25 |
3 and older |
Shal |
314 |
303 |
427 |
1.36 |
1.41 |
|
Cross-bred |
42 |
42 |
61 |
1.45 |
1.45 |
TABLE A-61. Growth of single male and female Awassi,
Shal and Awassi-Shal cross-bred lambs from birth to weaning |
Sex and breed |
No. |
Birth weight (kg) |
Weaning weight (kg) |
Age at weaning (days) |
Daily weight gain (g) |
Male |
|||||
Awassi |
144 |
5.1 |
29.1 |
89 |
270 |
Shal |
50 |
5.1 |
31.7 |
90 |
296 |
Cross-bred |
39 |
5.5 |
32.2 |
90 |
297 |
Female |
|||||
Awassi |
135 |
4.8 |
25.9 |
90 |
234 |
Shal |
51 |
4.8 |
27.8 |
89 |
258 |
Cross-bred |
40 |
4.7 |
25.9 |
90 |
236 |
TABLE A-62. Growth of twin male and female Awassi,
Shal and Awassi-Shal cross-bred lambs from birth to weaning |
Sex and breed |
No. |
Birth
weight |
Weaning
weight (kg) |
Age
at weaning (days) |
Daily
weight gain (g) |
Male |
|||||
Awassi |
36 |
4.3 |
30.3 |
92 |
282 |
Shal |
45 |
4.6 |
29.2 |
90 |
272 |
Cross-bred |
66 |
4.4 |
28.4 |
92 |
260 |
Female |
|||||
Awassi |
50 |
4.2 |
23.9 |
88 |
224 |
Shal |
58 |
4.0 |
23.8 |
92 |
217 |
Cross-bred |
69 |
4.0 |
26.1 |
91 |
243 |
|
TABLE A-64. Mortality of male and female lambs of
Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal cross-bred ewes as percentage of lambs born | |||||
Sex and breed |
No. of lambs -born |
Age at death (days) |
Total |
||
1-3 |
4-90 |
90-180 |
|||
Male |
|||||
Awassi |
241 |
8.2 |
9.5 |
5.7 |
23.4 |
Shal |
231 |
3.0 |
3.9 |
0.9 |
7.8 |
Cross-bred |
81 |
6.7 |
3.1 |
4.6 |
14.4 |
Female |
|||||
Awassi |
217 |
6.6 |
5.3 |
1.1 |
13.0 |
Shal |
227 |
3.5 |
3.0 |
2.6 |
9.1 |
Cross-bred |
69 |
1.7 |
10.1 |
0 |
11.8 |
TABLE A-66. Average, minimum and maximum milk yields
of Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal F1 and F2 cross-bred ewes | |||||
Breed |
Age |
Number of ewes |
Milk yield (kg) |
||
Average |
Minimum |
Maximum |
|||
Awassi |
Yearlings |
11 |
289 |
199 |
394 |
Adult ewes |
67 |
333 |
139 |
593 |
|
Shal |
Yearlings |
10 |
142 |
91 |
242 |
Adult ewes |
57 |
210 |
105 |
322 |
|
F1 cross-bred |
Yearlings |
10 |
249 |
194 |
322 |
Adult ewes |
15 |
284 |
188 |
534 |
|
F2 cross-bred |
Yearlings |
2 |
317 |
243 |
390 |
TABLE A-67. Average lactation lengths in 2-4 years
of three age groups of Awassi, Shal and Awassi-Shal crossbred ewes (days) | ||||||
Age |
Awassi |
Shal |
Cross-bred |
|||
Number |
Days |
Number |
Days |
Number |
Days |
|
1 |
94 |
214.9 |
8 |
118.1 |
28 |
170.5 |
2 |
129 |
219.3 |
18 |
180.3 |
47 |
201.4 |
3 and more |
157 |
219.8 |
286 |
189.9 |
38 |
224.6 |
The Awassi-East Friesian is doubtless the most important among the
various Awassi cross-breds. In Israel it has replaced the pure-bred Awassi in
many improved dairy flocks since the first importation of a consignment of East
Friesian breeding stock in 1955. This is not owing to higher milk or butterfat
yields of the cross-breds; in these respects they are not superior to the
improved Awassi in the subtropical environment. The reason for many breeders'
preference for them is the greater fecundity of the cross-bred ewes, the
speedier growth of the lambs, and the smaller fat tail.
The East Friesian does not acclimatize readily in the range of the
Awassi. At an experiment station in Israel, where it has been kept under
favourable conditions of nutrition and management, the annual mortality rate of
adult ewes in 1962-71 was 19 percent as against 11 percent in Awassi ewes. The
death rate of East Friesian lambs was particularly high, as a comparison with
Awassi lambs kept in the same conditions shows (
Table B-1).
|
Three outstanding syndromes contribute to
the high mortality rate in East Friesian lambs: pneumonia in one- to
six-month-old lambs; urolithiasis (the shoppage of urination) in males two to
five months of age; and acute jaundice in seven- to ten-month-old females.
In the experimental flock, 64 percent of the
mortality was caused by pneumonia which attacked lambs of both sexes, mainly at
the age of three to five months and never during the first month of life. In an
experiment in which the lambs were kept in pens with slatted floors, separated
from their dams except for two sucklings a day, the death rate was reduced to
12-13 percent, as compared with a rate of 32-54 percent in lambs that were in
continuous contact with the ewes. The antibiotic treatment of sick lambs was disappointing.
In four years (1966-69) urolithiasis caused
an average death rate of 6 percent, with a range of 2-11 percent, in the male
East Friesian lambs of the experimental flock. Awassi lambs fed the same
rations were not affected. In the following years, the disease was nearly
completely eradicated by the inclusion of 5-percent sodium chloride in the
concentrate ration. East Friesian-Awassi cross-bred ram lambs and adult rams
are also more prone to the formation of urinary calculi than are pure-bred Awassi
sheep (Rapaport, 1979).
For three years (1968-70) acute jaundice and
haematuria, diagnosed as chronic copper poisoning, occurred at an average rate
of 9 percent in East Friesian hoggets kept indoors on a high plane of
nutrition. No Awassi hoggets on the same nutritional level were affected
(Shimshoni & Lavi, 1972).
In an experimental flock in Israel, Goot (1966) recorded many data on
the biology of reproduction, growth, milk yields, tail development, fleece
weight and mortality of East Friesian-Awassi cross-breds with different shares
of the parent breds.These comprised F1 and F2
cross-breds, 5/8 Awassi, ¾ Awassi,
5/8 East Friesian and ¾ East
Friesian. Their performance was compared with that of the purebred Awassi which
was to be improved by the introduction of East Friesian genes.
On six farms situated in different climatic
regions of Israel, Eyal and Goot (1968) compared the biology of reproduction
and productive capacity of 1 280 pure-bred Awassi with 687 Awassi-East Friesian
F1 cross-bred ewes.
In 34 milk-recorded Awassi and 18
Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred farm flocks in various parts of Israel, the
fecundity of yearling, two-year-old and adult ewes has been summarized by
Carasso (1974) for the year 1972/73. The major part of the ewes lambed only
once a year, but some of them twice.
At an experiment station in Turkey, Lischka
(1976) compared the birth weight, growth rate, milk yield, butterfat
percentage, and mortality of pure-bred İvesi with those of İvesi-East Friesian crossbred sheep.
In the six farm flocks there was no difference between the pure-bred and
cross-bred animals in the average date of the first oestrus in the breeding
season. But in the experimental flock, studied by Goot (1966), Awassi-East
Friesian F1 cross-breds had their first oestrous 7-14 days later
than Awassi ewes. In the farm flocks, possible differences between the two
groups may have been concealed by the hormonal application in common use for
the concentration of lambings.
At the experiment station the oestrous cycle
was normal, that is, within the range of 14-19 days, in 70 percent of the
Awassi, 69 percent of the East Friesian-Awassi F1 cross-bred, 50
percent of the F2 cross-bred, 57 percent of the ¾
East Friesian-¼ Awassi, and 80 percent of the 5/8
East Friesian-3/8 Awassi ewes. The percentage of the
aberrant cycles in Awassi and East Friesian-Awassi F1 crossbred
ewes was as given in Table B-2.
In the six farm flocks, 2.2 services were
required to get the Awassi ewes in lamb, and in the
cross-breds 2.8 services on average. These figures are considerably higher than
those recorded at the experiment station where Awassi ewes had to be served
only 1.6 times and F1 cross-breds 1.4 times to attain pregnancy.
At all ages the gestation period of the ewes was shorter in East
Friesian-Awassi than in Awassi ewes. Male Awassi lambs were carried 151.53 days
on average and female lambs 151.40 days. The respective figures for the cross-breds
were 149.50 and 149.06 days.
The shares of the parent breeds in the
cross-breds had a marked influence on the length of the gestation period, as
shown by the data in Table B-3 referring to single-born lambs.
Records of the fecundity of pure-bred Awassi and East Friesian and
cross-bred ewes with different shares of the two parent breeds, taken by Goot
(1966) during seven years of the cross-breeding experiment, show a particularly
low percentage of lambings in the total number of East Friesian ewes that were
mated, while the various cross-breds approximated the Awassi in this respect.
TABLE B-3. Gestation lengths according to breed for
ewes and lambs | |||||
Breed of ewes |
No. of births |
Average gestation (days) |
Breed of lambs |
No. of lambs |
Average gestation (days) |
Awassi |
85 |
151.5 |
Awassi |
104 |
151.4 |
East Friesian |
8 |
145.1 |
East Friesian |
18 |
145.9 |
F1 and F2cross-breds |
195 |
148.5 |
F1, F2 and F3 cross-breds |
274 |
147.6 |
5/8
and ¾ Awassi |
40 |
151.4 |
5/8
and ¾ Awassi |
42 |
151.3 |
5/8
and ¾ East Friesian |
76 |
147.4 |
5/8,11/16
and ¾ East Friesian |
135 |
147.4 |
TABLE B-4. Annual average percentages of lambing,
twinning and number of lambs per ewe and birth in Awassi, East Friesian and
cross-bred ewes (1 = ewes that were mated; 2 = ewes that lambed) | |||||
Breed |
|
No. of ewes |
Lambings |
Twin lambings |
No. of lambs born |
Awassi |
1 |
414 |
90.6 |
10.1 |
100.7 |
2 |
375 |
|
11.2 |
111.2 |
|
East Friesian |
1 |
97 |
71.1 |
41.2 |
112.3 |
2 |
69 |
|
58.0 |
158.0 |
|
F1 and F2 cross-bred |
1 |
306 |
92.9 |
30.3 |
123.2 |
2 |
283 |
|
32.7 |
132.7 |
|
5/8
and ¾ Awassi |
1 |
32 |
90.9 |
8.4 |
99.3 |
2 |
29 |
|
9.1 |
109.1 |
|
5/8 and ¾
East Friesian |
1 |
41 |
89.5 |
34.0 |
123.5 |
2 |
36 |
|
38.8 |
138.8 |
TABLE B-5. Fecundity of Awassi and Awassi-East
Friesian cross-bred ewes in farm flocks | ||||||
Age |
Breed |
No. of ewes (%) |
Lambing |
No. of ewes |
No. of lambs per |
|
100 ewes |
100 lambings |
|||||
1 |
Awassi |
1 262 |
43.5 |
593 |
46.9 |
113.3 |
|
F1 cross-bred |
648 |
75.1 |
631 |
97.3 |
123.8 |
|
F2 cross-bred |
26 |
84.6 |
31 |
119.2 |
140.9 |
|
¾ Awassi |
16 |
50.0 |
9 |
56.3 |
112.6 |
2 |
Awassi |
944 |
90.6 |
931 |
98.6 |
110.7 |
|
Awassi-East Friesian |
524 |
90.5 |
624 |
119.1 |
130.7 |
|
¾ Awassi |
3 |
100.0 |
4 |
133.3 |
133.3 |
3-4 |
Awassi |
702 |
95.2 |
754 |
107.4 |
118.5 |
|
Awassi-East Friesian |
357 |
94.5 |
471 |
131.9 |
138.1 |
There was a high percentage of twinning in
East Friesian and cross-bred ewes with a large East Friesian share, and a low
percentage of twin births in Awassi and cross-bred ewes with a large share of
Awassi blood. The F1 and F2 cross-breds were nearly
intermediate in the twinning rate. The 5/8 and ¾ Awassi ewes had a similarly low percentage as the pure-bred Awassi, while
the 5/8 and ¾ East Friesians exceeded
the F1 and F2 cross-bred ewes in twin births, but
did not come up to the pure-bred East Friesians. (See Table
B-4.)
In six farm flocks the fecundity of
yearling, two- and three- to four-year-old Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian
cross-bred ewes during a period of four years was as shown in Table B-5 (Eyal
& Goot, 1968). The Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred yearlings exceeded the
pure-bred Awassis in lambing percentage to a marked degree. In two-year-old and
older ewes there was no difference in the lambing rate between the Awassi and
cross-bred groups.
TABLE B-6. Fecundity of yearling, 2-year-old and
adult Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes in one or two lambings a
year | ||||||
Breed |
No. of lambings
yearly |
No. of ewes |
Pregnancy (%) |
Abortion (%) |
No. of lambs per ewe |
Still birth and mortality in first week(%) |
Yearling |
||||||
Awassi |
1 |
3 255 |
59.7 |
0.8 |
1.1 |
5.7 |
2 |
3 |
100.0 |
— |
1.2 |
— |
|
Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred |
1 |
699 |
81.4 |
0.8 |
1.2 |
6.5 |
2 |
15 |
100.0 |
— |
1.3 |
10.1 |
|
2-year-old |
||||||
Awassi |
1 |
2 839 |
90.6 |
1.2 |
1.1 |
4.4 |
2 |
132 |
100.0 |
1.1 |
1.2 |
6.6 |
|
Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred |
1 |
545 |
94.9 |
1.3 |
1.3 |
5.9 |
2 |
77 |
100.0 |
0.6 |
1.5 |
4.9 |
|
Adult |
||||||
Awassi |
1 |
6 487 |
94.6 |
0.7 |
1.2 |
4.4 |
2 |
679 |
100.0 |
1.1 |
1.2 |
5.6 |
|
Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred |
1 |
1 114 |
95.2 |
0.9 |
1.4 |
5.9 |
2 |
204 |
100.0 |
0.7 |
1.5 |
7.0 |
TABLE B-7. Average birth weights of male and
female, single and twin Awassi, East Friesian and cross-bred lambs with
different shares of parent breeds | ||||||||
Breed |
Single |
Twin |
||||||
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|||||
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
|
Awassi |
98 |
5.36 |
84 |
4.84 |
31 |
4.40 |
26 |
3.90 |
East Friesian |
11 |
4.47 |
16 |
4.39 |
45 |
4.07 |
37 |
3.76 |
F1, F2 and F3 cross-•bred |
112 |
5.53 |
138 |
5.08 |
76 |
4.60 |
67 |
4.16 |
5/8
and ¾ Awassi |
6 |
6.21 |
22 |
5.28 |
— |
— |
2 |
4.10 |
5/8,11/16
and ¾ East Friesian |
43 |
5.15 |
41 |
4.84 |
44 |
3.84 |
38 |
3.54 |
At the experimental farm, prior to the year
1962, 17 percent of Awassi and 62 percent Awassi-East Friesian cross-breds
lambed without hormone application as yearlings. With a continuous improvement
in feeding, the lambing rate of Awassi yearlings rose in 1966 to 56 percent, and of cross-breds to 100 percent.
The percentage of twin births in the
Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes of the farm flocks was much higher than in
the Awassi. At the experimental farm the twinning rate of Awassi ewes on a
particularly high plane of nutrition rose to 133 percent and in Awassi-East
Friesian cross-breds to as much as 190 percent of the number of ewes put to
rams during the breeding season of 1966. It would therefore appear that the
twinning percentages obtained in the farm flocks do not express the full
genetic potential of the cross-bred ewes (Eyal & Goot, 1968).
In another farm flock of East
Friesian-Awassi cross-breds purchased as five-month-old lambs, the birth rate
was 152.7 percent in yearlings and 155.5 percent in two-year-old ewes (Alef,
1979).
In 34 Awassi and 18 Awassi-East Friesian
cross-bred farm flocks, the average fecundity of yearling, two-year-old and
adult ewes with one or two successive lambings in the year 1972/73 was as shown
in Table B-6 (Carasso, 1974).
In all age groups of ewes lambing once a
year, but especially in yearlings, a higher percentage of Awassi-East Friesian
cross-bred than of Awassi ewes put to rams became pregnant. Although in the
cross-breds fecundity was higher than in the pure-bred Awassi ewes, the
mortality rate of the crossbred lambs was also higher than that of the Awassi
lambs. In the Awassi as well as the cross-bred lambs, still birth and mortality in the first week after birth were higher at
two lambings a year than at one lambing.
Practically all improved Awassi sheep in
Israel have haemoglobin type B (see p. 40). In Germany, East Friesian sheep are
mostly of haemoglobin type A. In Israel the frequency of type B appears to be
on the increase not only in East Friesian-Awassi cross-breds, but also in
locally produced East Friesian pure-breds. Ewes of BB genotype showed a higher
fecundity as expressed by the number of lambs born to each ewe exposed to the
ram and by the proportion of multiple births than ewes of AB type. The latter
again had a higher milk yield and AB lambs were heavier at birth than BB lambs.
As high fecundity was the main object in the crossing of the Awassi with the
East Friesian, the BB genotype was added as a desired trait in the importation
of East Friesian rams from Germany (Gootwein & Goot 1979).
In an experimental flock of Ege University, Bornova/İzmir in Turkey, Lischka (1976) found no
significant difference in birth weight between İvesi and İvesi-East Friesian F1
cross-bred lambs. Newborn İvesi lambs weighed 4.63 kg and cross-breds 4.83
kg on average (see also Table 3-48).
Birth weights and weights at various ages of
Awassi, East Friesian, East Friesian-Awassi F1, F2 and F3
cross-bred lambs, and back-crosses with different shares of Awassi and East
Friesian, were recorded by Goot (1966) in an experimental flock in Israel for
seven years. In Table B-7, F1, F2 and F3 cross-breds
are grouped together, as are the 5/8 and ¾
Awassi, and the 5/8, 11/16 and ¾
East Friesian lambs.
The average birth weights of single-born
Awassi and cross-bred lambs exceeded those of purebred East Friesians. The
birth weights of half-bred twins were also higher than those of East Friesian
twin lambs, but the average weights of twin lambs with a larger East Friesian
share fell below these.
All cross-bred lambs with a ½,
5/8 or ¾ share of Awassi exceeded
the birth weights of pure-bred Awassi lambs, save for the Awassi-East Friesian
F2 cross-bred generation which equalled the Awassi in birth weight.
Cross-bred lambs with a larger East Friesian than Awassi share had lower birth
weights than Awassi lambs.
The weights of single-born lambs have been
compared by Goot (1966) with the lighter average weights of one twin of Awassi,
East Friesian and their crosses with different parental shares, and the heavier
weights of both twins of the same parental breeds and crosses (Table B-8).
While at the experiment farm the birth
weights of cross-bred lambs with equal Awassi and East Friesian shares exceeded
those of Awassi lambs, the opposite was observed in six farm flocks where male
and female, single and twin F1 cross-bred lambs were lighter
than Awassi lambs of the respective birth types (Table B-9) (Eyal & Goot,
1968).
On one of the farms there was also a small
number of F2 cross-breds. Their birth weights were still lighter
than those of the F1 generation and much lighter than the birth
weights of the Awassi lambs (Table B-10).
In the experimental flock belonging to Ege University, the birth, 30-,
60- and 90-day weights of male and female, single and twin İvesi-East Friesian
F1 cross-bred lambs were recorded during the period 1972-74 (Table
B-11). The lambs were reared under two different systems, suckled by their dams
for about two months or reared on a milk substitute in a self-feeder to a
weight of 10-12 kg. During the trial the lambs had free access to concentrates
and water. (For a comparison with pure-bred İvesi lambs in the same experiment,
see Table 3-108.)
The İvesi-East Friesian F1 cross-breds
generally reached higher weights at the different ages than pure-bred İvesi
lambs reared in similar conditions (see Table 3-108). The heavier birth weights
of female cross-bred twins affected growth until the age of 60 days. Thereafter
the males exceeded the female lambs in growth rate. In single-born lambs,
suckling proved to be superior to rearing on a milk substitute. In twins the
reverse obtained, probably owing to an insufficient milk supply of the ewes.
At an experiment station in Israel Goot
(1966) recorded or estimated the weights of Awassi, East Friesian and
cross-bred lambs at different ages (Tables B-12 to B-17).
In the pure-bred Awassi and East Friesian
and in all cross-bred generations, the males grew faster than the females. At
the age often weeks the male single-born cross-breds exceeded the Awassi lambs in weight
and only ¾-bred East Friesian male twins weighed 2 kg
less than Awassi twins. Similarly, the single-born female cross-breds, save for
the F2 generation, were heavier than the corresponding Awassi lambs
and all female twins weighed more than female Awassi twins.
TABLE B-8. Birth weights of twins in comparison with
single-born Awassi, East Friesian and cross-bred lambs | ||
Breed |
One twin (- %) |
Both twins (+ %) |
Awassi |
18 |
63 |
East Friesian |
12 |
77 |
F1 cross-bred |
22 |
56 |
F2 cross-bred |
15 |
69 |
5/8 East
Friesian |
14 |
72 |
¾
East Friesian |
28 |
44 |
TABLE B-9. Average birth weights of male and
female, single and twin Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian F1 crossbred
lambs in six farm flocks | ||||||||
Breed |
Single |
Twin |
||||||
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|||||
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
|
Awassi |
600 |
4.9 |
694 |
4.9 |
168 |
4.1 |
193 |
3.8 |
F1 cross-bred |
401 |
4.7 |
386 |
4.3 |
321 |
3.6 |
340 |
3.5 |
TABLE B-10. Average birth weights of male and
female, single and twin Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian F1 and F2
cross-bred lambs in a farm flock | ||||||||
Breed |
Single |
Twin |
||||||
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|||||
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
|
Awassi |
233 |
5.1 |
288 |
4.8 |
41 |
3.9 |
39 |
3.7 |
F1 cross-bred |
160 |
4.5 |
142 |
4.1 |
84 |
3.3 |
95 |
3.3 |
F2 cross-bred |
9 |
5 |
5 |
4.0 |
8 |
2.9 |
8 |
2.6 |
TABLE B-11. Average birth, 30-, 60- and 90-day
weights of Awassi-East Friesian F, cross-bred lambs in Turkey under different
systems of rearing | ||||||||||
Type of birth |
Birth weight |
30-day weight |
60-day weight |
90-day weight |
||||||
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
|||
a) |
Single |
Male |
7 |
5.11 |
7 |
14.18 |
7 |
22.97 |
7 |
29.27 |
Female |
2 |
4.68 |
2 |
13.46 |
2 |
21.09 |
2 |
26.39 |
||
|
Twin |
Male |
3 |
3.33 |
3 |
8.79 |
3 |
14.07 |
3 |
20.62 |
Female |
5 |
3.78 |
5 |
9.45 |
5 |
15.32 |
5 |
19.66 |
||
b) |
Single |
Male |
20 |
4.88 |
20 |
10.33 |
20 |
17.19 |
19 |
26.17 |
Female |
17 |
4.70 |
16 |
9.92 |
17 |
16.15 |
4 |
21.33 |
||
|
Twin |
Male |
9 |
3.40 |
9 |
10.00 |
8 |
15.38 |
8 |
24.21 |
Female |
11 |
3.86 |
11 |
10.13 |
5 |
15.91 |
— |
— |
||
Note. a) Suckled by
dams until the age of 2 months; b) reared on a milk substitute after 2 days of
suckling. | ||||||||||
Source: Lischka,
1976 |
TABLE B-12. Average
weights of 7-week-old male and female, single and twin Awassi, East Friesian
and cross-bred lambs with different shares of parent breeds |
Breed |
Single |
Twin |
|||||
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|||||
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
|
Awassi |
66 |
17.86 |
76 |
15.93 |
27 |
14.09 |
25 |
13.10 |
East Friesian |
4 |
14.55 |
6 |
17.37 |
13 |
15.04 |
12 |
13.85 |
F1, F2 and F3 cross-bred |
107 |
18.98 |
132 |
16.79 |
71 |
17.26 |
63 |
15.32 |
⅝ and
¾ Awassi |
6 |
18.25 |
22 |
17.59 |
– |
– |
2 |
14.50 |
5/8, 11/16
and ¾ East Friesian |
49 |
18.02 |
41 |
17.11 |
36 |
14.79 |
35 |
14.32 |
TABLE B-13. Estimated
weights of 10-week-old male and female, single and twin Awassi, East Friesian
and cross-bred lambs with different shares of parent breeds | ||||||||
Breed |
Single |
Twin |
||||||
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|||||
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
|
Awassi |
666 |
22.40 |
664 |
20.20 |
177 |
18.80 |
122 |
16.50 |
East Friesian |
– |
– |
42 |
20.60 |
53 |
20.60 |
191 |
18.00 |
F1, F2 and F3 cross-bred |
860 |
24.03 |
836 |
22.55 |
302 |
21.05 |
140 |
18.50 |
5/8
and ¾ Awassi |
66 |
23.70 |
214 |
22.65 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
5/8
and ¾ East Friesian |
406 |
23.85 |
294 |
22.40 |
182 |
18.55 |
313 |
18.55 |
TABLE B-14. Daily weight
gains from birth to 10 weeks of Awassi, East Friesian and cross-bred lambs with
different shares of parent breeds | ||||
Breed |
Single |
Twin |
||
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|
Awassi |
252 |
226 |
216 |
188 |
East Friesian |
– |
– |
– |
204 |
F1, F2 and F3
cross-bred |
281 |
256 |
232 |
227 |
5/8
and ¾ East Friesian |
283 |
242 |
234 |
214 |
TABLE B-15. Average
weights of 16-week-old male and female, single and twin Awassi, East Friesian
and cross-bred lambs with different shares of parent breeds | ||||||||
Breed |
Single |
Twin |
||||||
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|||||
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
No. |
Kg |
|
Awassi |
– |
– |
32 |
24.92 |
– |
– |
6 |
23.77 |
East Friesian |
2 |
29.95 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
7 |
27.40 |
F1, F2 and F3 cross-bred |
11 |
37.39 |
69 |
29.08 |
9 |
33.72 |
49 |
27.91 |
5/8 Awassi |
– |
– |
9 |
26.80 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
5/8,
11/16 and ¾ East Friesian |
8 |
37.74 |
37 |
28.93 |
5 |
30.98 |
29 |
25.75 |
|
|
At the age of 20
weeks the Awassi lambs and cross-breds with a large Awassi share had the
lightest weights of the pure-bred and cross-bred lambs. Between the ages of 11
and 20-31 weeks, single-born Awassi and 5/8-bred East
Friesian lambs continued to grow faster than twins. In the F2 generation, the growth rate of twins was still slightly slower than that of
single-born lambs, but in the ¾-bred East Friesian it rose
to that of the corresponding singles. The daily weight gain in single lambs was
as follows: East Friesian 132 g, F1 cross-breds 128 g; F2 cross-breds 125 g, 5/8-bred East Friesian 102 g; ¾-bred
East Friesian 89 g; Awassi 88 g; and ¾-bred Awassi 80
g; in twins: East Friesian 158 g; F2 cross-breds 127 g; 5/8-bred
East Friesian 99 g; ¾-bred East Friesian 90 g; and
Awassi 70 g. From the age of nine months the difference in weight between
single and twin hoggets disappeared (Goot, 1966).
In an experiment
conducted by Folman, Eyal and Benjamin (1967) 20 male four-month-old
Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs were divided into two equal groups with
average initial weights ranging from 41.8 to 43.2 kg. Group I was kept on a
high plane of nutrition (hay and concentrates) and group II on a very high
plane of nutrition (hay and free access to concentrates). In the first group
the trial lasted 7½ months, at the end of
which the lambs had reached an average weight of 75.6 kg. In the second group
the trial lasted 6½ months when the lambs
weighed 82.9 kg on average. The daily weight gain of the lambs of group I was
141 g and the feed conversion rate 10.1; in group II the weight gain was 212 g
a day and the conversion rate 9.2.
During the first
part of the fattening period, from the middle of April to the beginning of
July, the growth rate of the Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs was very
high; thereafter it dropped markedly. While for a 1-kg live weight increase
seven feed units were required in the first phase of the trial, more than 12
feed units were necessary for the same weight gain during the second phase.
Folman, Eyal and Benjamin (1967) attribute the reduction in the growth rate of
the cross-bred lambs in the hot summer months to the inadequate acclimatization
of the East Friesian parent breed to high ambient temperatures. The very high
plane of nutrition enhanced the growth rate and feed conversion and gave better
economic results than those obtained from the high plane.
The live weights of Awassi, East
Friesian and cross-bred ewes, three days after lambing, have been recorded by
Goot (1966) in an experimental flock. The weights of two- and four-tooth ewes
are given in Table B-18; it is only in these two age groups that full records for
all crosses have been published.
The greatest
differences in weight between the various pure-bred and cross-bred groups
occurred in the two-tooth generation. The ¾-bred East
Friesian was the lightest at 50.7 kg; it was preceded by Awassi at 52.6 kg, ¾-bred
Awassi at 53.8 kg, 5/8-bred East Friesian at 55.6 kg, F2
cross-bred at 56.7 kg, F1 cross-bred at 58.0 kg, 5/8-bred
Awassi at 58.5 kg and East Friesian at 67 kg.
Monthly changes in
the weight of six-tooth Awassi, East Friesian and cross-bred ewes with
different shares of the parent breeds were recorded by Goot (1966) in 1962/63
and are given in Table B-19. The pure-bred East Friesian ewes exceeded all
cross-bred groups in monthly live weights. They were followed by the F1
cross-breds which were still markedly heavier than the Awassi ewes. The weights
of the other cross-bred ewes approximated those of the latter.
TABLE B-18. Average weights of 2- and 4-tooth Awassi,
East Friesian and cross-bred ewes with different shares of parent breeds,
three days after lambing |
||
Breed |
Number of ewes |
Weight (kg) |
Awassi |
84 |
55.8 |
East Friesian |
18 |
68.4 |
F1 cross-bred |
170 |
59.9 |
F2 cross-bred |
38 |
59.4 |
5/8 Awassi |
21 |
61.9 |
¾ Awassi |
17 |
58.6 |
5/8
East Friesian |
27 |
58.3 |
¾
East Friesian |
25 |
56.3 |
TABLE B-19. Monthly
changes in weight of 6-tooth Awassi, East Friesian and cross-bred ewes | |||||||||||||
Breed |
Month |
3 days after lambing |
|||||||||||
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
||
Awassi |
61 |
63 |
65 |
67 |
68 |
70 |
73 |
74 |
73 |
72 |
72 |
69 |
70 |
East Friesian |
88 |
86 |
84 |
83 |
84 |
86 |
88 |
89 |
90 |
86 |
88 |
89 |
88 |
F1 cross-bred |
73 |
75 |
77 |
75 |
74 |
76 |
80 |
81 |
83 |
84 |
83 |
79 |
78 |
F2 cross-bred |
65 |
65 |
65 |
66 |
65 |
68 |
71 |
71 |
70 |
67 |
66 |
66 |
69 |
¾
Awassi |
66 |
66 |
67 |
67 |
65 |
67 |
70 |
71 |
68 |
65 |
64 |
63 |
67 |
¾
East Friesian |
64 |
65 |
66 |
64 |
62 |
63 |
64 |
66 |
66 |
63 |
63 |
62 |
65 |
In an experimental flock in Turkey,
İvesi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes had significantly higher milk yields than
pure-bred İvesi ewes. The first lactation yield of cross-bred
ewes after removal of their lambs at the age of two days was 210.0 kg and of
İvesi ewes without lambs 173.8, 174.5, 162.1 and 130.5 kg at the second, third,
fourth and fifth lactations. İvesi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes with
lambs yielded 174.3 kg and İvesi ewes with lambs 133.1 kg of milk at the first
lactation. In the first month of the lactation period, the average milk yield
of İvesi-East Friesian ewes was 43.7 kg and of İvesi ewes 33.3 kg (Lischka,
1976). Kizilay (1975) recorded an average lactation yield of 166.9 kg in
İvesi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes and 122.8 kg in İvesi ewes.
In 1979/80, the
average lactation yield of Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes in Israel was
337.6 1, with a record yield of 1 100 1. One flock produced 4101 on average for
each lactation, in addition to the milk consumed by the lambs (Fái, 1981).
Because of the
difficulty of making an exact assessment of the actual quantity of milk
consumed by lambs before weaning, or the amount of milk not yielded to the pail
or milking machine but retained in the udder, Goot (1966) has limited the
comparison of lactation yields between the improved Awassi and various crosses
with the East Friesian to the marketable milk recorded at an experimental farm
in Israel (Table B-20). The ¾-bred Awassi ewes had the
highest lactation yields, while the 5/8- and ¾-bred
East Friesian ewes yielded less than the 5/8- and ¾-bred
Awassi.
Persistency in
lactation has been expressed by Goot (1966) as the number of ewes in milk each
month in relation to the number (= 100) milked the first month of the lactation
period (Table B-21).
Awassi,
Awassi-East Friesian F1 and F2 cross-bred, ¾-bred
Awassi and ¾-bred East Friesian two-tooth ewes had a
similar persistency during the first five months of the lactation period. In
the sixth month, the F2 cross-bred group showed a decline of 20
percent from the original number, while all ewes of the other groups were still
in milk. During the seventh and eighth months of lactation, all groups shrank
in number, the Awassi group least and the F2 cross-bred generation
most. There was little difference in persistency between the ¾-bred
Awassi and the ¾-bred East Friesian ewes (Goot, 1966).
TABLE B-20. Average lactation yields of Awassi-East
Friesian F1 and F2 cross-breds, 5/8
Awassi, ¾ Awassi, 5/8 East
Friesian and ¾ East Friesian ewes at different ages | |||||||||
Breed |
Age: |
2-tooth |
4-tooth |
6-tooth |
4½ years |
||||
Milk (kg) |
Lactation (days) |
Milk (kg) |
Lactation (days) |
Milk (kg) |
Lactation (days) |
Milk (kg) |
Lactation (days) |
||
Awassi |
|
191.5 |
188 |
176.0 |
197 |
227.5 |
212 |
209.0 |
208 |
F1 cross-bred |
|
236.3 |
200 |
234.5 |
211 |
252.2 |
222 |
274.6 |
209 |
F2 cross-bred |
|
169.6 |
183 |
289.9 |
217 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
5/8
Awassi |
|
248.4 |
209 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
¾
Awassi |
|
262.3 |
210 |
299.2 |
219 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
5/8
East Friesian |
|
183.0 |
191 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
¾
East Friesian |
|
174.1 |
209 |
213.8 |
220 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
|
TABLE B-23. Average annual milk yields (A), highest daily yields (B), and daily yields in 6th
lactation month (C) of Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian F1 cross-bred ewes at
different ages in farm flocks (kg) |
||||||
Breed |
Age (years) |
Average |
||||
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|||
Awassi |
A |
236 |
303 |
331 |
338 |
300 |
F1 cross-bred |
240 |
303 |
332 |
356 |
306 |
|
Awassi |
B |
2.042 |
2.407 |
2.719 |
2.926 |
2.481 |
F1 cross-bred |
2.212 |
2.623 |
2.885 |
3.119 |
2.660 |
|
Awassi |
C |
0.297 |
0.553 |
0.563 |
0.525 |
0.486 |
F1 cross-bred |
0.232 |
0.478 |
0.565 |
0.669 |
0.454 |
In six farm flocks
Eyal and Goot (1968) recorded the average length of the lactation period,
annual milk yield, highest daily yield at the height of lactation, and daily
yield in the sixth lactation month of Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian F1
cross-bred ewes at different ages (Tables B-22 and B-23).
The differences in
annual milk yield between the Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes
were negligible. A milking trial conducted by Jatsch and Sagi (1979) in an
experimental flock of 40 Awassi and 229 East Friesian-Awassi cross-bred ewes in
northern Israel also showed no substantial effect on yield or milkability of
upgrading to the East Friesian. Eyal and Goot (1968) suggest that the lack of
superiority in lactation yield of the Awassi-East Friesian cross-breds over the
pure-bred Awassi ewes may be a result of the inadequate acclimatization of the
East Friesian to subtropical conditions and a greater susceptibility of the
cross-bred ewes to environmental stress.
The maximum daily
yield, represented by the highest yield on a day of control in the course of
the lactation period, was usually obtained in the first or second month of
lactation. In all age groups, the F1 cross-bred ewes exceeded the
Awassi in the maximum daily yield.
TABLE B-24. Average full lactation yields of
yearling, 2-year-old and adult Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian crossbred ewes
in farm flocks | ||||||||||
Breed |
Yearling |
2 years of age |
Adult |
|||||||
No. of |
Lactation |
Milk |
No. of |
Lactation |
Milk |
No. of |
Lactation |
Milk |
||
a) |
Awassi |
1 341 |
192 |
264 |
1 962 |
212 |
312 |
4 702 |
220 |
334 |
|
Awassi-East Friesian |
397 |
206 |
304 |
395 |
220 |
363 |
843 |
223 |
383 |
b) |
Awassi |
2 |
177 |
255 |
110 |
182 |
278 |
488 |
170 |
287 |
|
Awassi-East Friesian |
13 |
173 |
251 |
60 |
177 |
328 |
181 |
179 |
314 |
Note. a) One
lambing and lactation a year; b) Mean of two lambings
and lactation a year. |
The persistency of
lactation was measured by the daily yield during the sixth month of control. By
this standard the cross-breds were less persistent than the Awassi ewes during
the first two lactations. In the third year, the two groups were similar in
this respect, while at the fourth lactation the cross-breds proved more
persistent than the Awassi ewes.
The milk yields of
full lactations, that is, of not less than 150 days, were recorded in yearling,
two-year-old and adult Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes of 32
farm flocks in 1972/73 (Carasso, 1979). The records were divided into two
groups: one of ewes with one lambing and lactation during the year, and the
other one of those with two consecutive lambings and full lactations (Table
B-24). There was little difference in lactation length between the pure-bred
and cross-bred groups, but the cross-breds yielded more milk in either one or
two consecutive lactations a year.
In a test with 239
single- and 187 twin-rearing two- to nine-year-old Awassi-East Friesian F2,
F3 and F4 cross-bred ewes of an experimental flock, Goot
(1974) recorded a slightly longer length of lactation in twin-rearing ewes than
in single-rearing ewes, namely 234.9 versus 230.1 days. However, the difference
was statistically insignificant save for the two-year-old ewes which on average
were milked 15 days longer than the ewes of the same age group with single
lambs.
In the same test
the milk yield of twin-rearing ewes exceeded that of ewes with single lambs by
17:4 kg or 5.9 percent on average (311.2 kg versus 293.8 kg). In every age
group, except that of four-year-old ewes, the recorded milk yields of the
twin-rearing dams were higher than those of contemporaries with one lamb.
Further, there is
indirect evidence to suggest that the additional stimulus derived from suckling
twins increases residual milk production and that twin-rearing ewes that are
adequately fed retain approximately 24 percent more milk for their lambs after
machine milking and hand stripping than ewes rearing single lambs (Goot, 1974).
In Turkey the average butterfat
percentage of the milk of İvesi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes during the
lactation period was 6.4 percent and that of pure-bred İvesi ewes of the same
experimental flock 6.9 percent. The total average quantity of fat produced in
the course of the lactation was 13.2 kg in the İvesi-East Friesian cross-bred
ewes and 10.2 kg in the İvesi (Lischka, 1976).
In Israel, the
average fat content of 989.81 of milk delivered to central dairies in 1976/77
from 13 Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred flocks was 5.31 percent, that is, only
slightly less than the 5.44 percent fat in 1 734.21 of milk from 30 pure-bred
Awassi flocks marketed in the same year (Table B-25).
In 16 male Awassi-East Friesian
cross-bred lambs that had been used in a fattening test, Goot, Folman and Eyal
(1967) recorded the loss in weight in transit over a distance of 20 km from
farm to slaughterhouse and during 18 hours of abstention from feed and water
(Table B-26). In addition, the carcass and different parts and organs were
weighed immediately after slaughter (Table B-27). (For a comparison with male
Awassi and Awassi-Mutton Merino cross-bred lambs, see p. 191, para. 2, p. 195,
para. 3, and p. 242, paras. 2-5).
TABLE B-25. Average monthly fat content of milk from
Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred flocks, delivered to central dairies in Israel,
1976/77 | |||
Month |
Milk (t) |
Butterfat |
|
Kg |
% |
||
October |
13.0 |
720 |
5.55 |
November |
27.7 |
1 273 |
4.60 |
December |
60.0 |
3 036 |
5.06 |
January |
112.2 |
5 394 |
4.81 |
February |
131.7 |
7 130 |
5.41 |
March |
150.5 |
7 630 |
5.07 |
April |
131.7 |
6 884 |
5.23 |
May |
125.6 |
6 920 |
5.51 |
June |
103.9 |
5 852 |
5.63 |
July |
83.6 |
4 783 |
5.72 |
August |
39.5 |
2 322 |
5.88 |
September |
10.3 |
616 |
5.98 |
|
|
The mean shrinkage
in transit from farm to slaughterhouse and the weight loss during 18 hours
without feed and water amounted to 4.8 kg or 6.4 percent. The average fleece
weight of the 16 lambs was 1.7 kg or 2.4 percent of the weight of the unshorn
lambs. The cold carcass weight was estimated at 2 percent less than the warm
carcass weight. The slaughter yield without inner organs and fat tail amounted
to 52.7 percent; the addition of the edible inner organs increased it to 56.5
percent and of the inner organs and fat tail to 58.1 percent (Fig. B-1).
Figure B-1. Weight of kidney and caul fat and fat tail in relation to live
weight of Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs. (Source: Goot, Folman & Eyal, 1967)
The
heaviest three lambs were selected for an analysis of their carcass
composition, for which one-half of each carcass was used (Tables B-28 to B-32).
The average live weight of these lambs on the farm of origin was 81.7 kg;
shearing and shrinkage in transit and during the period of abstention from feed
and water prior to slaughter reduced it to 72.8 kg. The ratio of subcutaneous
to intermuscular fat in the trunks of the Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs
was 48:52.
In 1977 Epstein (unpublished) examined the body composition of two male
and two female Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs at marketing weights then
common in Israel. Before despatch to the slaughterhouse the male lambs weighed
54 and 55 kg, respectively, and the female lambs 35 kg each (Table B-33). (For
Awassi lambs included in the investigation, see Table 5-5.)
TABLE B-30. Distribution of bone, muscle and fat
tissue in various parts of the carcass of three male Awassi-East Friesian
cross-bred lambs (%) | ||||||
Part of carcass |
Bone |
Muscle |
Subcutaneous fat |
Intermuscular fat |
Total fat |
Weight loss |
Neck |
11.0 |
52.6 |
12.6 |
20.8 |
33.4 |
3.0 |
Breast |
16.4 |
45.4 |
10.9 |
26.1 |
37.0 |
1.2 |
Right shoulder |
13.5 |
60.0 |
13.4 |
11.5 |
24.9 |
1.6 |
Loin |
8.7 |
43.6 |
26.8 |
19.0 |
45.8 |
1.9 |
Psoas muscles |
— |
77.7 |
— |
21.3 |
21.3 |
1.0 |
Pelvis |
11.1 |
47.3 |
22.8 |
17.1 |
39.9 |
1.7 |
Thigh |
12.0 |
60.9 |
16.4 |
7.3 |
23.7 |
3.4 |
|
TABLE B-33. Mean body composition of two male and
two female Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs (kg) | ||||
|
|
Male |
Female |
|
Live weight on farm |
|
54.50 |
35.0 |
|
Live weight after 24 hours' starvation at slaughterhouse |
|
51.25 |
32.5 |
|
Weight loss during shipment and 24 hours withholding feed and water |
(%) |
3.25 6.0 |
2.5 7.14 |
|
Carcasses at slaughterhouse (warm dressed weight) |
|
25.160 |
16.460 |
|
|
at butcher-shop (cold dressed weight) |
|
25.020 |
16.160 |
Weight difference between warm and cold dressed weight |
|
0.140 |
0.300 |
|
(%) |
0.56 |
1.82 |
||
Forequarters |
|
12.870 |
7.800 |
|
Hindquarters |
|
11.485 |
7.960 |
|
Fat tail |
|
0.665 |
0.400 |
|
Carcass, total |
|
25.020 |
16.160 |
|
Killing-out percentage |
|
48.8 |
49.7 |
|
Forequarters |
Neck |
|
2.565 |
1.290 |
|
Leg and shoulder |
|
3.550 |
2.580 |
|
Chest |
|
6.730 |
3.900 |
|
Weight loss |
|
0.025 |
0.030 |
|
Total |
|
12.870 |
7.800 |
Hindquarters Loin
and rump |
|
4.765 |
2.960 |
|
|
Leg and thigh |
|
6.705 |
4.985 |
|
Weight loss |
|
0.015 |
0.015 |
|
Total |
|
11.485 |
7.960 |
Fat tail Tail fat |
|
0.545 |
0.310 |
|
|
Tail |
|
0.120 |
0.090 |
|
Total |
|
0.665 |
0.400 |
|
Male |
Female |
|||||||
Forequarters |
Neck |
Leg
and shoulder |
Chest |
Neck |
Leg
and shoulder |
Chest |
|||
Bone |
0.545 |
0.770 |
1.330 |
0.300 |
0.540 |
0.815 |
|||
Muscle |
1.545 |
2.340 |
3.605 |
0.885 |
1.820 |
2.705 |
|||
Fat tissue |
0.430 |
0.440 |
1.780 |
0.090 |
0.215 |
0.380 |
|||
Weight loss |
0.045 |
— |
0.015 |
0.015 |
0.005 |
— |
|||
Total |
2.565 |
3.550 |
6.730 |
1.290 |
2.580 |
3.900 |
|||
Hindquarters |
Loin
and rump |
Leg
and thigh |
Loin
and rump |
Leg
and thigh |
|||||
Bone |
0.410 |
1.280 |
0.290 |
0.960 |
|||||
Muscle |
2.170 |
4.595 |
1.710 |
3.645 |
|||||
Fat tissue |
2.150 |
0.805 |
0.930 |
0.350 |
|||||
Weight loss |
0.035 |
0.025 |
0.030 |
0.030 |
|||||
Total |
4.765 |
6.705 |
2.960 |
4.985 |
|||||
Forequarters, total |
|||||||||
Bone |
2.645 |
1.655 |
|||||||
Muscle |
7.490 |
5.410 |
|||||||
Fat tissue |
2.650 |
0.685 |
|||||||
Weight loss |
0.060 |
0.020 |
|||||||
Total |
12.845 |
7.770 |
|||||||
|
Male |
Female |
|||||||
Hindquarters,
total |
|||||||||
Bone |
1.690 |
1.250 |
|||||||
Muscle |
6.765 |
5.355 |
|||||||
Fat tissue |
2.955 |
1.280 |
|||||||
Weight loss |
0.060 |
0.060 |
|||||||
Total |
11.470 |
7.945 |
|||||||
Carcass, total |
Kg |
% of
live weight [51.25 kg] |
Kg |
% of
live weight [32.5 kg] |
|||||
Bone |
4.335 |
8.46 |
2.905 |
8.94 |
|||||
Muscle |
14.255 |
27.81 |
10.765 |
33.12 |
|||||
Fat tissue |
5.605 |
10.94 |
1.965 |
6.05 |
|||||
Weight loss |
0.120 |
0.23 |
0.080 |
0.24 |
|||||
Total |
24.315 |
47.44 |
15.715 |
48.35 |
|||||
Fat
tail |
|||||||||
Tail fat |
0.545 |
1.06 |
0.310 |
0.95 |
|||||
Tail |
0.120 |
0.23 |
0.090 |
0.28 |
|||||
Total |
0.665 |
1.29 |
0.400 |
1.23 |
|||||
Head, feet and
inner organs |
|||
|
Male |
Female |
|
Head (without skin) |
Total |
2.585 |
1.250 |
Tongue |
0.110 |
0.075 |
|
Brain |
0.110 |
0.095 |
|
Horns |
0.225 |
0.035 |
|
Feet (without skin) |
|
0.820 |
0.550 |
Liver |
0.860 |
0.540 |
|
Lungs with trachea |
0.700 |
0.665 |
|
Spleen |
0.070 |
0.050 |
|
Heart |
0.185 |
0.130 |
|
Kidneys |
0.145 |
0.090 |
|
Diaphragm |
0.165 |
0.160 |
|
Oesophagus |
0.040 |
0.035 |
|
Oesophagus fat tissue |
0.155 |
0.210 |
|
Thymus |
0.020 |
0.020 |
|
Testes |
0.465 |
— |
|
Uterus |
— |
0.065 |
|
Udder |
— |
0.115 |
|
Skin and intestines |
|||
Weight of wet skin |
Body |
5.700 |
3.800 |
Head and ears |
0.700 |
0.460 |
|
Legs |
0.305 |
0.210 |
|
Total |
6.705 |
4.470 |
|
Length of intestines (m) |
Small intestine |
29.650 |
25.300 |
Large intestine |
7.825 |
7.500 |
|
Total |
37.475 |
32.800 |
One of the purposes of crossing the
Awassi with the East Friesian is the reduction in the size of the fat tail
which constitutes an impediment to the mating, shearing and clean milking of
Awassi ewes.
The width of the
tail at the broadest section has been measured by Goot (1966) in Awassi, East
Friesian and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs, yearlings and adult ewes
with different shares of the parent breeds (Table B-34).
The width of the
tail seems to follow the different genetic compositions of the various
cross-breds fairly closely, except for a certain tendency of dominance of the
narrow East Friesian to the broad Awassi tail
observable in all cross-breds save the ¾-bred Awassi
generation. (See Fig. B-2.)
TABLE B-34. Average width of tail in Awassi, East
Friesian and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred sheep with different shares of
parent breeds | ||||||
Breed |
Lambs |
Yearlings |
Adult ewes |
|||
No. |
cm |
No. |
cm |
No. |
cm |
|
Awassi |
13 |
18.4 |
20 |
20.1 |
91 |
23.5 |
East Friesian |
8 |
2.8 |
5 |
4.6 |
6 |
5.3 |
F1, F2 and F3 cross-bred |
89 |
6.9 |
19 |
7.6 |
62 |
11.0 |
5/8
and ¾ Awassi |
7 |
9.1 |
5 |
10.6 |
7 |
18.8 |
5/8
and 5/8 East Friesian |
40 |
5.1 |
16 |
6.4 |
23 |
7.9 |
The shape of the
tail in the cross-breds varies in accordance with the different shares of the
parent breeds. In the F1 generation, the tail consists of a round
disc of fatty tissue in the uppermost part, from which the straight, narrow,
short-haired tail characteristic of the East Friesian descends to the hocks.
The 5/8-bred Awassi shows a similar caudal conformation,
while the tail of the ¾-bred Awassi approximates that
of the Awassi. In cross-breds with a preponderant East Friesian share, the
curvature of the Awassi tail is absent.
In dairy ewes the milk flow is
markedly influenced by the shape of the udder (see Figs
B-3 and B-4). From
baggy udders with laterally projecting teats, the flow is generally less satisfactory
than from those of adequate shape with teats pointing downwards; the
inferiority of the former is not fully neutralized by the udder-lifting device
connected to the milking machine. In view of the importance of this problem in
East Friesian-Awassi cross-bred sheep, the frequencies and heritability of
different udder types have been studied by Gootwein, Alef and Gadish (1979) in
a flock of 1 000 stall-fed ewes.
Figure B-4. Baggy udder with laterally projecting teats of an East Friesian-Awassi Cross-bred ewe
In the examination
of the udder, four traits were considered and each trait was classed into four
grades. The udders were examined at the first milk test of the lactation, 20-60
days after lambing. The percentages of the different grades of the mammary
traits were separately recorded in 269 yearling and 544 two- to five-year-old
cross-bred ewes (Table B-35).
In 27 percent of
the adult ewes the type of udder was undesirable from the point of view of milk
flow. Between yearling and adult ewes considerable differences were found in
the shape of the udder and the situation of the teats, while the differences in
length and thickness of teats between the two age groups were negligible.
To estimate the
heritability of different traits, groups comprising a total of 451 half-sisters
were used; among these were 68 adult dam-daughter pairs. The traits were graded
as follows: shape of udder, baggy or not baggy; situation of teats, lateral or
not; length of teats, short or not; and thickness of teats, thin or not.
In the frequency
of udder shape and situation of teats a significant correlation was found
between dams and daughters. Dams with a desirable udder showed a tendency to
transmit this quality to their daughters and vice versa. In other traits there
was no correlation between the dam and daughter groups (Gootwein, Alef &
Gadish, 1979).
Awassi, East Friesian, Awassi-East Friesian F1, F2
and F3 cross-bred, 5/8- and ¾-bred
Awassi, and 5/8- and ¾-bred East
Friesian ewes of different age groups produced the average quantities of wool
of 12 months' growth given in Table B-36 (Goot, 1966).
The Awassi ewes
had lighter fleeces than the cross-breds. The fleece weights of pure-bred East
Friesians and Awassi-East Friesian F1 half-breds were the heaviest,
although the fleeces of the East Friesian ewes did not reach the average weight
common in their home country. Cross-breds with a predominant Awassi share had
lighter fleeces than those with a predominant East Friesian share. No
correlation was found between the body weight of ewes three days after lambing
and their fleece weights of 12 months' growth.
The fibre length
of the Awassi wool was 13.0 cm on average, East Friesian 10.3 cm, ¾-bred
Awassi 13.4 cm, and ¾-bred East Friesian 9.4 cm (Goot,
1966).
TABLE B-35. Frequency percentage of mammary trait
grades in yearling (A) and adult
(B) East Friesian-Awassi cross-bred ewes | |||||||||
Trait |
Grades (%) |
||||||||
Shape of udder |
A |
Attached |
67.3 |
Medium |
28.6 |
Baggy |
4.1 |
Irregular |
_ |
B |
42.8 |
43.0 |
13.6 |
0.6 |
|||||
Situation of teats |
A |
Lateral |
9 3 |
Obliquely downwards |
89.2 |
Downwards |
1.5 |
Irregular |
— |
B |
27.0 |
69.7 |
3.0 |
0.3 |
|||||
Length of teats |
A |
Short |
13.4 |
Medium |
84.7 |
Long |
1.9 |
Irregular |
— |
B |
9.5 |
86.2 |
4.3 |
— |
|||||
Thickness of teats |
A |
Thin |
15.7 |
Medium |
81.7 |
Thick |
2.6 |
Irregular |
— |
B |
13.3 |
83.1 |
3.3 |
0.3 |
TABLE B-36. Average fleece weights of Awassi, East
Friesian and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes with different shares of
parent breeds | |||
Breed |
Age |
Number of fleeces |
Fleece weight (kg) |
Awassi |
1-6½ |
658 |
2.12 |
East Friesian |
1-5½ |
113 |
2.98 |
F1, F2 and F3 cross-bred |
1-5½ |
567 |
2.89 |
5/8
and ¾ Awassi |
1-4 |
67 |
2.61 |
5/8
and ¾ East Friesian |
1-4 |
126 |
2.80 |
TABLE B-37. Mortality of male and female, single and
twin Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs with different shares of
parent breeds in an experimental flock in Israel | ||||||||||||
Breed |
Single |
Twin |
||||||||||
Male |
Female |
Male |
Female |
|||||||||
No. born |
Mortality |
No. born |
Mortality |
No. born |
Mortality |
No. born |
Mortality |
|||||
No |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
No. |
% |
|||||
Awassi |
81 |
8 |
9.9 |
64 |
0 |
0 |
38 |
9 |
23.7 |
27 |
3 |
11.1 |
East Friesian |
12 |
4 |
33.3 |
15 |
3 |
20.0 |
46 |
17 |
37.0 |
42 |
16 |
38.1 |
F1, and F2 cross-bred |
118 |
12 |
10.2 |
137 |
16 |
11.7 |
82 |
9 |
11.0 |
69 |
7 |
10.1 |
5/8
and ¾ Awassi |
20 |
2 |
10.0 |
20 |
1 |
5.0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
5/8
and 3/4 East Friesian |
52 |
10 |
19.2 |
38 |
4 |
10.5 |
28 |
10 |
35.7 |
38 |
4 |
10.5 |
In a farm flock of East
Friesian-Awassi cross-bred ewes in Israel, the percentage of stillborn lambs
from yearlings was 12.6 and from two-year-old ewes 10.5, with an average of
11.1 percent (Alef, 1979).
In an experimental
flock in Turkey the average mortality rate of lambs between the second and
ninetieth day after birth was 1.9 percent in İvesi and 6.3 percent in
İvesi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs in 1973 and 1974 (Lischka, 1976).
In an experimental
flock in Israel, the mortality among 1 143 male and female, single and twin
Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred lambs, 338 yearlings and 890
breeding ewes was recorded over the course of 11 years (Table B-37) (Goot,
1966).
The highest total
death rate was among East Friesian lambs (34.8 percent), followed by the ¾-bred
East Friesians (27.4 percent), the 11/16-bred East
Friesian (19.2 percent), the F2 cross-bred (12.8 percent), the 5/8-bred
East Friesian (11.7 percent), the Awassi, F1 and F3 cross-bred and ¾-bred Awassi (9.5-9.1 percent), and
finally 5/8-bred Awassi lambs (4.5 percent) (see Table B-38).
Pure-bred East
Friesian females again had the highest death rate. Awassi lambs and yearlings
showed the lowest mortality, while the cross-breds ranged between the parent
breds, although somewhat nearer the Awassi.
As in the case of
the 6- to 18-month-old female lambs and yearlings, the mortality of adult ewes
was lowest in the Awassi and highest in the East Friesian, with the F1
cross-breds in between, but much closer to the death rate of the Awassi than
the East Friesian ewes (Table B-39).
In six farm flocks
Eyal and Goot (1968) recorded the mortality among 1 759 lambs born to Awassi
ewes and of 1 526 lambs out of Awassi-East Friesian F1 cross-breds
until the age of six months (Tables B-40and B-41).
The slightly
greater mortality of the lambs born to F1 cross-bred ewes is
attributed by the authors to the higher twinning rate since twins, owing to
their smaller birth weight, are weaker than single-born lambs.
One of the
principal causes of the death or culling of ewes in dairy flocks is mastitis
(see pp. 62-3). In six farm flocks Awassi ewes suffered more from mastitis
including gangrene (20 percent) than Awassi-East Friesian cross-breds (15
percent), and less from abortion (1.0 percent versus 3.7 percent) and other
diseases (9.7 percent versus 11.4 percent) (Eyal & Goot, 1968).
In 34 farm flocks
comprising 22 000 milk-recorded Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes
in Israel, the reverse in the incidence of mastitis emanates from a report of
the year 1972/73 (Carasso, 1979). There was a higher percentage of mastitis in
all age groups of cross-breds than in Awassi ewes. The same applies to udder
gangrene in yearlings, but in the two-year-old and adult age groups its
incidence was higher in the Awassi than in the Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred
ewes (Table B-42).
|
|
TABLE
B-40. Mortality of lambs out of Awassi and Awassi-East Friesian F1
cross-bred ewes in six farm flocks | |||||
Breed of dam |
Age (days): |
Mortality (%) |
Total |
||
0-3 |
4-60 |
61-180 |
|||
Awassi |
|
5.9 |
2.9 |
0.7 |
9.5 |
Awassi-East Friesian F1 cross-bred |
|
7.4 |
2.8 |
0.6 |
10.8 |
TABLE B-41. Mortality of 1- to 4-year-old Awassi
and Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred ewes in six farm flocks | ||||||
Breed |
Age (years): |
Mortality (%) |
Total |
|||
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|||
Awassi |
|
1.10 |
3.03 |
2.41 |
1.80 |
8.34 |
Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred |
|
1.98 |
2.64 |
1.67 |
3.95 |
10.24 |
TABLE B-42. Percentage of
mastitis and udder gangrene in yearling, 2-year-old and adult Awassi and
Awassi-East Friesian ewes in farm flocks | ||||||
Breed |
Mastitis |
Udder gangrene |
||||
Yearling |
2-year-old |
Adult |
Yearling |
2-year-old |
Adult |
|
Awassi |
1.5 |
2.8 |
4.8 |
1.2 |
1.8 |
1.9 |
Awassi-East Friesian cross-bred |
3.6 |
3.9 |
7.9 |
2.3 |
0.5 |
1.3 |