Application of Biometric Traits for Predicting Weaning Weight of Dorper Sheep using Path Analysis

The current study was conducted to examine the relationship between weaning weight and biometric traits viz; heart girth (HG), rump height (RH), body length (BL), withers height (WH) and sternum height (SH) and, also to determine direct and indirect influence of biometric traits on weaning weight (WW) of Dorper sheep. Dorper sheep lambs (females=23, males=16) were used. Pearson’s correlation and path analysis were used for data analysis. Female correlation results indicated that WW had a positive highly significant correlation with HG (r=0.66), BL (r=0.66) and RH (r=0.55), and positively statistical correlation with WH (r=0.45) at P<0.05 whereas in males, results demonstrated that WW had a negative highly significant correlation with HG (r=-0.51) at P<0.05. Path analysis results on females showed that BL (0.34) had the greatest direct effect on WW while HG (0.31) had the highest indirect contribution on WW, males’ results indicated that HG (0.97) had the highest direct contribution on WW while WH (0.69) had the greatest indirect effect on WW. Current study information will assist rural farmer who lack weighing scales to predict weight of their animals for various reasons such as for breeding and marketing purposes and again study outcome will help sheep breeders to select direct and indirect traits influencing weaning weight for improvement.

Meat Quality, Fatty Acid Content and NMR Metabolic Profile of Dorper Sheep Supplemented with Bypass Fats

The supplementation of rumen bypass fat (RBF) has remained one of the preferred approaches used to decrease undesirable saturated fatty acids (FA) and increase beneficial unsaturated FA in the meat. This study was planned to evaluate the influences of rumen bypass fats on meat quality, fatty acid and metabolic profiles in male Dorper sheep (n = 36) with 24.66 ± 0.76 kg (mean ± standard error) initial body weight. Treatment comprised a basal diet (30:70 rice straw to concentrate) with no added RBF as a control (CON), basal diet with prilled fat (PF), basal diet with prilled fat plus lecithin (PFL) and basal diet with calcium soap of palm fatty acids (CaS). The findings revealed that cooking loss, drip loss and shear force in longissimus dorsi (LD) muscle were not affected by RBF supplementation, while meat pH was significantly higher in the CaS on aging day 1. However, the diet supplemented with prilled fat and lecithin modified the meat’s fatty acid profile significantly by increasing unsaturated fatty acids and decreasing saturated fats. The relative quantification of the major differentiating metabolites found in LD muscle of sheep showed that total cholesterol, esterified cholesterol, choline, glycerophosphocholine and glycerophospholipids were significantly lower in CaS and PFL diets, while glycerol and sphingomyelin were significantly higher in CaS and PFL diets. Most of the metabolites in the liver did not show any significant difference. Based on our results, the supplementation of protected fats did not have a negative influence on meat quality and the meat from Dorper sheep fed prilled fat with lecithin contained more healthy fatty acids compared to other diets.

Drone approach parameters leading to lower stress sheep flocking and movement: sky shepherding

Consumer groups are pressuring modern farmers to be more efficient with a focus on better animal welfare. Herding risks farmer lives, involves stress from farm dogs, and if not performed often and intelligently, risks neglect. We examined the behavioural and physiological response of twelve Dorper sheep (Ovies aries) to a drone to adapt mathematical models of shepherding to the new dimension. The model aims to make it feasible for artificial intelligence to improve the autonomy of farmers and pilots in shepherding from the sky. Sheep acclimatised quickly and positively to the drone initiating drive of a flock, regardless of drone speed. Our results demonstrate that stimulating sheep auditory awareness during herding from the sky leads to varying sheep responses. When controlled, these auditory cues can maintain safer distances between the drone and the sheep, offering great potential for the agriculture industry. We outline our ongoing research plans to achieve more autonomous sky shepherding that is compassionate to animal welfare and trusted by farmers and the consuming public.

Live weight of rams of Dagestan mountain breed and crossbreeds obtained from crossing with rams of the Russian meat merino breed

Relevance and methods. The article considers the experience of studying the effect of crossing Kalmyk sheep and dorper sheep-breeders in order to increase meat productivity. Crossbred rams of the experimental group had better indicators than rams in the control group in terms of live weight, depending on the conditions of pasture maintenance. Dagestan has a fifth of the Russian sheep and goat population and a quarter of wool production. In this area sheep breeding has a unique specificity, twice a year cattle are driven from summer to winter pastures and back. The distance between the pasture areas is more than 570 km. Of the total number of sheep, 71.5% falls on the Dagestan mountain breed.Results. To further increase the level of profitability of fine-wool sheep breeding it is of great importance to develop research on the economic and useful characteristics of young Dagestani fine-wool sheep and their crossbreeds with Russian meat merino sheep, depending on the driving and pasture system of keeping.

ASSESSMENT OF SUBCLINICAL MASTITIS EFFECTS ON LIVE WEIGHT, BODY CONDITION SCORE (BCS) AND EXTERNAL UDDER MEASUREMENTS OF DORPER SHEEP

Mastitis is an inflammation of the mammary gland that can be classified as clinical and subclinical mastitis. The clinical mastitis can be diagnosed based on clinical signs, whilst subclinical mastitis mostly through somatic cell count (SCC). This study was carried out to determine the subclinical mastitis effects on live weight, body condition score (BCS) and external udder traits of Dorper sheep. A total 16 Dorper ewes were selected and screened for mastitis using the Californian mastitis test (CMT). The live weight, BCS and external udder traits (i.e. udder length (UL), udder width (UW), rear udder depth (RUD), cistern depth (CD) and teat length (TL) of the ewes were measured. The subclinical mastitis did not affect the live weight and BCS of Dorper ewes. Whilst for external udder measurements; the highest average of udder length, udder width, rear udder depth and cistern depth were indicated in CMT score as strong positive which shows that the measurement values of external ewes’ udder are increased when the strength detection of CMT scores increased and vice versa. However, all of the external udder parameters measured were not statistically (P>0.05) affected by the mastitis infection scores. The present results indicate that live weight, BCS and all external udder parameters did not influence the subclinical mastitis detected in the milk’s samples of the ewes. This study suggests that subclinical mastitis does not directly affected by morphology alteration of external udder traits, live weight or BCS, however it is likely affect the quality of milk produced.

Review of Huang-huai sheep, a new multiparous mutton sheep breed first identified in China

Huang-huai sheep are a new multiparous mutton sheep breed that has been cultivated by domestic scientific research institutes, governments, and sheep farms in China. Huang-huai sheep were bred using Dorper sheep as a sire and Small-tailed Han sheep as a dam. The breeding of Huang-huai sheep started in 2003, and three stages have been carried out: crossbreeding innovation, fixation in a two-way-crossbred closed flock, and herd propagation. A pilot test of Huang-huai sheep was conducted on 6 sheep farms from 2017 to 2018, and hereditary properties and production performance were evaluated in 2019. Huang-huai sheep were identified on site by the National Livestock and Poultry Resources Committee of China in December 2019 and approved as a new multiparous mutton sheep breed in China. The genetic distance showed that Huang-huai sheep are most closely related to Dorper sheep, Luxi black-headed sheep, and Small-tailed Han sheep, but the genetic distances are subspecies (0.02–0.20) each other. The body weights of adult Huang-huai sheep are 98.1 ± 5.2 kg (♂) and 71.7 ± 3.5 kg (♀), and those of 6-month-old Huang-huai sheep are 58.50 ± 6.55 kg (♂) and 52.45 ± 5.67 kg (♀). The slaughter rates of 6-month-old sheep are 56.02 ± 1.25% (♂) and 53.19 ± 1.19% (♀). The estrus cycle of Huang-huai sheep is 19.32 ± 2.8 days, the first estrus cycle occurs at 168 ± 12 days, the annual lambing rate of ewes is 252.82% ± 10.69%, the survival rate of lambs is 95.79 ± 0.95%, and the number of weaned lambs per ewe per year is 2.38 ± 0.14. The growth performance, carcass quality, and reproductive performance of Huang-huai sheep have been improved, resulting in considerable economic and social benefits and broader market prospects. This breed represents a new multiparous mutton sheep breed adapted for industrial sheep farms in China.