Heritability estimates for some growth traits and Kleiber ratios in Karakul sheep

Abstract

Data and pedigree information obtained from 1491 birth records of Karakul sheep collected from the Agricultural Office, Darab, were analyzed. The objective was to evaluate the performance and to estimate the heritability of Karakul sheep. The mean of BW, WW, W₆, ADG₁, ADG₂, WW^0.75, W₆ ^0.75, KR₁ and KR₂ were 4.20 kg, 16.50kg, 24.90 kg, 0.136 g/d, 0.114 g/d, 8.20 kg, 11.11 kg, 0.016 and 0.010, respectively. The heritability estimates (uncorrected and corrected) for BW, WW, W₆, ADG₁, ADG₂, WW^0.75, W₆ ^0.75, KR₁ and KR₂ were (0.340, 0.288), (0.350, 0.307), (0.462, 0.173), (0.402, 0.410), (0.418, 0.170), (0.334, 0.288), (0.442, 0.153), (0.552, 0.606) and (0.482), respectively. The environmental factors were significant sources of variation on growth traits that play an important role in expression of genetic potential. The findings from this study exhibit that weight at 6 month are the most important trait to consider for enhancing productivity in Karakul sheep.