EVALUATION OF THE PRODUCTIVE TRAITS OF THE SYNTHETIC POPULATION BULGARIAN MILK SHЕEP AS AFFECTED BY LINEAGE

N. Stancheva

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the parameters of the productive traits as affected by lineage in sheep from the Synthetic Population Bulgarian Milk (SPBM). It assigned 851 ewes borne during the period 2004-2008 on the experi¬mental farm of Agricultural Institute – Shumen. It was established that the highest average milk yield per standard 120-day lactation period belongs to the breeding line 51 (BL-51) (with Chios blood), being relatively higher than the SPBM lines by 26 percent at first and by 15 percent at second lactation. Biological prolificacy is affected by parity, with lowest values for first and highest for third lambing – respectively 1.24 and 1.52 lambs per ewe. As affected by lineage, it is highest again in the ewes from SL-51: at 2.5 yr of age – 1.56, at 3.5 yr – 1.67, and at 4.5 yr – 1.90 lambs; the respective litter size for the consolidated SPBM lines is 1.27, 1.42, and 1.49. The recorded live weight of the SPBM female animals at 9 mo of age (46.51kg) is 65.7% of that of the 2.5-yr old ewes (70.87kg), while that at 1.5 yr is 91.06%. The variability of live weight is highest at weaning (21.31%) and decreases with the advance in age down to 8.14% at 2.5 yr. The SPBM ewes are marked with high live weight, while most steady in this aspect is the performance of the ewes from BL-51 and those from the pure¬bred SPBM lines BL-27, BL-3156, BL-88 550 и BL-913.

Keywords: breeding lineage; live weight; milk yield; prolificacy; Synthetic Population Bulgarian Milk Sheep

Date published: 2017-05-23