Growth Rates and Some Reproductive Traits in the Libyan Barbary Sheep.

Abstract

This study was conducted on records obtained from El Kuffra Agricultural Project in Southen Libya (Lat. 24° N. The records were corrected for the effects of year, age of dam and type of birth, all of which had a significant influence on the rates of body weight gain. The best males had a rate of body weight gain of 260 gm / head / day at the early stages and the worst had a weight gain of 133 gm / head / day. Some reproductive traits were also considered. The number of lambs born per female joined was 96.3%, but the per cent of females twining was low (5.6%) Compared to other standard breeds. The study indicated the existence of a wide range of variation in traits related to body weight gain and reproductive traits in this flocle of Libyan Barbary Sheep. This means that there is good scope for improvement by the use of proper management techniques, perfor. mance recording and objective selection procedures.