The Evaluation of Body Weight and Morphometric Traits in Local and Crossbred Sheep at Birth and Weaning Age

Abstract

Selection and crossbreeding were implemented by the breeders to improve the livestock performance in Indonesia. The study was aimed to evaluate the performance of crossbred and local sheep at birth and weaning age. The research method used was a case study in the field with observation variables at birth and at weaning 90 days respectively for body weight (BW1 and BW90), chest girth (CG1 and CG90), body length (BL1 and BL90), and body height (BH1 and BH90). The data was analyzed  using a descriptive statistic and the effect of breed was analyzed using analyses of variance (ANOVA), and the T-test applying R Studio software. The results showed that BW1, BH1, BL1, and CG1 for DEG were 2.94 ± 0.82 kg, 35.25 ±  3.99 cm, 30.00 ± 3.86 cm, and 34.00 ±  4.67 cm; for Garut were 2.52 ±  0.48 kg, 32.08 ± 1.90 cm, 28.76 ±  2.73 cm, and 28.53 ±  2.98 cm; And for Crossbred were 3.12 ± 0.77 kg, 33.40 ± 3.41 cm, 28.90 ± 4.03 cm, and 30.20 ± 2.79 cm, respectively. BW90, BH90, BL90, and CG90 for DEG were 10.31 ± 2.13 kg, 46.55 ± 4.49 cm, 46.29 ± 5.89 cm, and 47.50 ± 4.89 cm; for Garut were 10.62 ± 1.86 kg, 47.97 ± 10.86 cm, 51.19 ± 5.99 cm, and 51.80 ± 5.96 cm; and for Crossbred were 11.41 ± 2.78 kg, 47.32 ± 3.92cm, 46.96 ± 5.81 cm, and 50.09 ± 6.00 cm, respectively. The statistical analysis showed that BW1 of local sheep were not different (P>0.05) compared to crossbred sheep. BL1 of twin DEG showed a high significant longer (P<0.01) than crossbred but showed no different length with Garut (P>0.05). a significant effect (P<0.05) on CG1 for single and twin birth types at birth age. At weaning age, the breed had a highly significant effect (P<0.01) on BW90 for triplets performance.