AI Article Synopsis
- The study investigated how the age of ewes at first lambing affects their days in milk (DIM), daily milk yield (DMY), and total milk yield (TMY).
- It found that the age at first lambing significantly influenced DIM but not DMY or TMY, with litter size only affecting TMY.
- The results indicated that delaying mating until the second year is not beneficial for dairy sheep farms, but more research is needed to fully understand the broader implications on profitability.
Article Abstract
This study aimed to examine the impact of ewe's age at first lambing (AFL) on days in milk (DIM), average daily milk yield (DMY), and total milk yield (TMY). Symmetrical bimodal distribution of AFL enabled classification of maidens in those mated in the first (47%) or second year of life (53%). After accounting for all available sources of phenotypic variability with the linear mixed model for repeated records, it was estimated that AFL had a statistically significant effect only on DIM (p < 0.001). The litter size had a significant effect only on TMY ( < 0.001), while the effect of the parity was significant for all the examined traits ( < 0.001). The results of the study suggest that prolongation of age at first mating to the second year of life is not justified in dairy-orientated sheep farms. However, more evidence on this issue is needed for generalization, especially considering some other traits that can impact profitability of dual-purpose sheep farms (reproduction traits, growth rate of lambs, etc.).
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|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8226766 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani11061604 | DOI Listing |
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