Live weight and body measurements in sheep of Synthetic Population Bulgarian Milk and their crosses with Lacaune

Tanya Ivanova

Abstract: The aim of the study was to investigate the changes of the live weight and the body measurements in Synthetic Population Bulgarian Milk and their crosses with Lacaune at different age. The study was carried out with a total of 24 sheep – straight bred from Synthetic Population Bulgarian Milk (n = 12) and crosses with Lacaune (n = 12) reared in the experimental farm of the Institute of Animal Science – Kostinbrod at the age of 6 and 9 months as well as 1.5 and 2.5 years. The live weight was recorded in the morning before feeding with an allowance of 0.1 kg. The body measurements were done on animals fixated at flat surface with an allowance of 0.5 cm. The following measurements were taken: withers height, chest width, chest depth, athwart body length, flank eminences width. The primary data were processed through the EXCEL 2016 statistical package. When studying the blood introduction from Lacaune breed we found significant effect of the crossing on the chest width at the age of 9 months (F = 9.89**) and on the body length (F = 8.88**) in the sheep at 1.5 year. The average live weight at the age of 1.5 year in the straight bred animals (38.68 kg) was significantly lower than in the crosses (42.76 kg) (P < 0.01). The lack of significant differences in the body measurements and the live weight at 2.5 years showed that the blood introduction did not induce changes in the type of the animals.

Keywords: exterior measurements; Lacaune crossbreeds; live weight; Synthetic Population Bulgarian Milk

Date published: 2019-12-04