L. de Nascimento

Factors influencing birth and weaning weight in Canarian hair lambs.

Abstract Bermejo, L.A., Mellado, M., Camacho, A., Mata, J., Arévalo, J.R. and de Nascimento, L. 2010. Factors influencing birth and weaning weight in Canarian hair lambs. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 37: 273–275. The influence of year and season of birth, parity of dam, type of birth and sex of lamb on growth traits of Canarian hair lambs was examined using data on 3206 Canarian lambs from 1508 dams and 44 sires raised in the Tenerife Island. Ram lambs had higher (P<0.001) birth weight (BW), 60-d weaning weight (WW) and pre-weaning daily weight gain than ewe lambs. Season had no effect on birth weight but WW was the lowest in winter. BW, WW and preweaning daily gain were highest in single born lambs. Parity had no definite effect on any of the studied parameters.

Factors Affecting Days to Conception, Litter Size and Litter Weight of Intensively Managed Canarian Hair Sheep

Abstract Bermejo, L.A., Mellado, M., Mata, J., Arévalo, J.R., Nascimento, L.D. and Camacho, A. 2010. Factors affecting days to conception, litter size and litter weight of intensively managed Canarian hair sheep. J. Appl. Anim. Res. 37: 261–264. In order to assess the effect of month of breeding, year and sire on days to conception, litter size and litter weight, records on 605 lambings by 350 ewes and 13 rams were used. Days to conception were higher (P<0.01) for spring and summer breeding than mating in fall and winter. Sixty-nine percent of ewes became pregnant within 10 d of ram exposure in winter compared with 24% in spring (P<0.01). Litter size at birth tended (P=0.08) to be higher for spring breeding and lower in winter matings. Mean litter weights at birth were influenced by year of lambing and ram (P<0.01), but not by breeding season. It was concluded that the Canarian hair sheep can be used in accelerated lambing systems under intensive conditions found in the Canary Islands, because this breed presents only a mild reproductive seasonality, which allows multiple-season lambings.