Novel Genes Associated with Dairy Traits in Sarda Sheep

The aim of the present research was to analyze the variability of 45 SNPs from different genes involved in metabolism and innate immunity to perform an association analysis with the milk yield, composition and milk coagulation traits. A population of 1112 Sarda breed sheep was sampled. Genotyping was generated by a TaqMan Open ArrayTM. Thirty out of the 45 SNPs were polymorphic, and 12 displayed a minor allele frequency higher than 0.05. An association analysis showed that the variability at genes PRKAG3 and CD14 was significantly associated with the daily milk yield. The variability at PRKAG3 was also associated with the protein and casein content, somatic cell score and bacterial score. The variation at the PRKAA2 gene was associated with the milk lactose concentration. The SNPs at CD14 were also associated with the traditional milk coagulation properties, while the SNPs at GHR and GHRHR were associated with kSR, a derived coagulation parameter related to the rate of syneresis. The information provided here is new and increases our knowledge of genotype–phenotype interactions in sheep. Our findings might be useful in appropriate breeding schemes to be set up for the Sarda sheep breed, but these should be confirmed by further studies, possibly performed on independent populations.

Influence of clipping of North Caucasian Meat and Wool breed sheep before lambing on wool productivity of ewes and their offspring

Over the past 20 years, various scientists have conducted a number of researches on the effect of clipping before lambingon the wool productivity of sheep of different breeds and in different climatic conditions. The authors studied the effect of clipping before lambing on the milk production of ewes, studied the growth and development of lambs, the dynamics of live weight and the livability of young animals. The accumulated data allowed us to conclude that the use of clipping before lambing increases the productive performance of animals. However, these studies were fragmentary and did not have a systematic nature, so for these and other reasons they were not adopted by sheep breeders. The work on the infl uence of clipping before lambingon the wool productivity of the sheep of North Caucasian Meat and Wool breed has been carried out in the experimental division of the All-Russian Research Institute of Sheep and Goat Breeding. The purpose of the research was to determine the effect of late-autumn (November) insemination and clipping before lambing (3 weeks before lambing) of the sheep of North Caucasian Meat and Wool breed on the quality characteristics of the wool of ewes and their off spring. In accordance with the research methodology 2 groups of pregnant ewes have been selected, the formation of which has been carried out on the principle of analogues in age and live weight. In the 1st group (control) 100 heads were selected and have been clipping in the traditional terms after lambing (early June), in the 2nd group (experimental) 100 heads that were clipping three weeks before lambing (early April). It has been found in our studies that clipping ewes 21 days before lambing has a positive effect on the wool productivity of the resulting off spring. As the result of better growth and development of young animals, more intensively receive nutrients to the hair follicles, so most of them produce wool fiber.

Comparative-morphological analysis of intermuscular nervous plexus book of edilbayevskaya sheep in postnatal ontogenesis

Purpose: To perform a comparative morphological analysis of the intermuscular nerve plexus of the book of the Edilbaev breed sheep in postnatal ontogenesis.Materials and methods. For the experiment, the control and experimental groups were selected in the amount of 35 heads, 5 animals were killed immediately after birth. The rest were divided into control and experimental groups of 5 lambs each. Control groups of lambs were fed naturally on ewes. Experimental groups of lambs, according to the instructions, were on artificial feeding with a sheep milk substitute (ZOM) "Kolvo-Start". The object of histological examination was the ganglia of the book of Edilbaev breed lambs of 4 technological periods: newborns, 15-day-old, 2.5-month-old, 4.5-month-old. We used classical neuromorphological, morphometric and histological methods, as well as processing statistical data.Results. Comparative analysis showed that in the group of medium-sized cells in the ganglia of lambs of 2.5 months of age, there is an intensive growth of the cytoplasm in relation to the nucleus, both in the control and in the experiment. The morphological indicators of the adaptive-compensatory restructuring of the nervous tissue were revealed.Conclusion. The obtained morphometric data from birth to 4.5 months of age testify to the advanced growth of ganglia in the experiment both in length and width, an increase in the linear dimensions of the ganglia of the book occurs. This is due to the pronounced adaptation and formation of the organ in connection with the nature of feeding.

Effect of Body Condition Score, Treatment Period and Month of the Previous Lambing on the Reproductive Resumption of Melatonin-Treated Sarda Breed Sheep during Spring

Stakeholders place great emphasis upon rationalizing the management and rearing techniques which are utilized within sheep farms. The present study aimed to investigate factors which may improve the reproductive performance of melatonin-treated Sardinian sheep via a series of three trials. The first trial (n = 100) investigated the effect of melatonin treatment alongside body condition score (BCS), the second trial (n = 150) investigated the effect of treatment alongside the date of treatment (treatment period) and the third trial (n = 150) investigated the effect of treatment alongside the previous lambing of the ewes. The findings indicated that melatonin is an effective tool for anticipating and improving the reproductive activity of in Sarda breed sheep during the springtime. Furthermore, to obtain optional results, melatonin implantation should be conducted in April, in ewes that have a BCS of >2.5 and that have passed their third month of lactation.

Wool productivity of sheep of Edilbaevskya breed of different genotypes

The results of a study of the wool productivity and wool quality of sheep of Edilbaevskaya breed of different genotypes bred in the West of Kazakhstan have been presented in the paper. In the farm the improvement of sheep of Edilbaevskaya breed is carried out by using stud rams of Brliksky, Suyundiksky and Kurmangazinsky types of Western Kazakhstan. It has been found that the offspring of Brliksky type rams were inferior in terms of fleece and in the original to their herdmates from Suyundiksky and Kurmangazinsky stud rams. For fleece offspring from Suyundiksky rams with Edilbaevskaya breed ewes were superior to their herdmates from Edilbaevskaya breed rams with Edilbaevskaya breed ewes – gimmers by 0,1 kg or 7,7 %; Kurmangazinsky type gimmers superior to the offspring of Edilbaevskaya breed rams with Edilbaevskaya breed ewes by 0,2 kg or 15,4 %. Gimmers of Kurmangazinsky stud rams exceeded Suyundiksky herdmates by 0,1 kg or 7,7 %. A similar situation has been noted for young rams. The study of the ratio of the main types of fibers and morphological composition has been shown that the wool of Edilbaevskaya breed sheep of the studied types had differences in their ratio. The main type of fibers in the wool of Edilbaevskaya breed sheep of the studied groups is under hair and transitional hair, while the best content of under hairs is marked by Kurmangazinsky type stud rams and their offspring. The ratio of under hair, transitional and beard hairs in the average commercial weights of wool in rams of Brliksky interbreed type was 2,57:3,7:3,50, in animals of Suyundiksky type it was 3,37:2,2:2,93, and in Kurmangazinsky type 3,25:1,7:2,15. In general the conducted research of wool productivity of Edilbaevskaya breed sheep bred in the zone of Western Kazakhstan and the offspring obtained from them are characterized by average indicators. In terms of wool productivity and morphological composition offspring of Kurmangazinsky stud rams surpassed the offspring obtained from the Suyundiksky and Brliksky types of Edilbaevskaya breed.

Diameter and strength of Ethiopian pure and cross-breed sheep wool fibers

The wool fibers fineness and strength have a remarkable role to determine the quality of yarn and the subsequent fabrics. The fineness property of the wool fibers is a crucially important fiber property for grading, classifying, selecting for particular applications such as for suit, blanket, shirt, carpet, and so on. The fineness and strength properties of four indigenous (Menz, Wollo, Farta, Tikur), three exotic (Awasi, Dorper, Corrediale), and four cross-breed (50% Dorper, 50% Awasi, 75% Awsi, Washera/Awasi) sheep wool fibers from the four main body parts (sides, neck, back, and belly) at six teeth removed age of 11 different sheep breeds have been investigated. The samples of wool fibers have been conditioned for 24 h at 20ºC ± 1ºC temperature and 65% ± 2% relative humidity. The specimen for sampling has been determined based on ASTM D2130-01. The results revealed that the fineness and strength of whole fibers taken from different parts of sample sheep varied significantly within the breed and among the breeds. The result revealed that the strength and fineness of the wool fibers have a positive correlation and Ethiopian sheep wool fiber is suitable for numerous types of classical and technical applications.

SOME PRODUCTIVITY INDICATORS OF THE SHAKHRINAU-REGAR BREED TYPE OF HISSAR SHEEP

Тhis article contains the results of the change of body weight body measurements, meat and wool productivity created breed type and their comparative features with Farharskim factory type Cissar breed sheep, as well as their clinical,morphological and biochemical indices of blood.