Volume 9, Issue 2, September 2014, Pages 255–257
Taj Muhammad Hassani1, Muhammad Kamran Taj2, and Imran Taj3
1 Food and Agriculture Organization, Balochistan, Pakistan
2 Kunming University of Science and Technology, Yunnan, China
3 Centre for Advanced Studies in Vaccinology and Biotechnology UoB, Balochistan, Pakistan
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
An old saying states that "the ram is half the flock", since his genes will provide one-half of the genetic makeup of his lambs. One of the primary tools which sheep breeders have at their disposal for the improvement of their herds is selection of breeding ram. Rams are the primary means by which genetic improvement can be made in a flock. If the ram's daughters will be retained in the flock for breeding purposes, he should come from a productive ewe or line. His dam should be one of the most productive members of the flock. Therefore choose rams from good ewes.
The selection, of course, is a group term that includes many activities: recording, identifying, and the use of formal programs involving Record of Performance (R.O.P) testing and so on.
In Balochistan sheep farming communities it may not be possible to fulfill the requirements of a sound R.O.P testing mainly due to noncommercial small ruminant production practices and very low level of literacy. However through this article the sheep farmers of the province can be helped in selecting their breeding rams through visual appraisal on certain desired breeding traits/ characters. The farmers in the province mostly practice breed specific selective breeding and like to retain ewe lambs, from their own breeding rams. Therefore much attention is required towards selection of true to type breeding rams. The ram must beer the traits which are heritable and, definable, by visual methods and which have an economic value. The breeding goals in addition to body growth and conformation must emphasise fleece characters such as fibre length, fibre density and above all the wool colour which should be white with minimum grease, etc.). Use only selected rams for breeding and castrate all males so as to enforce the required breeding traits.Strive to keep inbreeding below 5% per generation. As the coefficient of inbreeding (COI, the degree of relatedness) increases in a flock, inbreeding depression may occur, during which fertility, growth, and other reproductive traits tend to decline. Such declines are especially dramatic when the COI reaches or exceeds 30%. It is therefore advised that the sheep breeders exchange breeding rams.
Author Keywords: Breeding Ram Selection, Balochistan Sheep Breeds.
Taj Muhammad Hassani1, Muhammad Kamran Taj2, and Imran Taj3
1 Food and Agriculture Organization, Balochistan, Pakistan
2 Kunming University of Science and Technology, Yunnan, China
3 Centre for Advanced Studies in Vaccinology and Biotechnology UoB, Balochistan, Pakistan
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
An old saying states that "the ram is half the flock", since his genes will provide one-half of the genetic makeup of his lambs. One of the primary tools which sheep breeders have at their disposal for the improvement of their herds is selection of breeding ram. Rams are the primary means by which genetic improvement can be made in a flock. If the ram's daughters will be retained in the flock for breeding purposes, he should come from a productive ewe or line. His dam should be one of the most productive members of the flock. Therefore choose rams from good ewes.
The selection, of course, is a group term that includes many activities: recording, identifying, and the use of formal programs involving Record of Performance (R.O.P) testing and so on.
In Balochistan sheep farming communities it may not be possible to fulfill the requirements of a sound R.O.P testing mainly due to noncommercial small ruminant production practices and very low level of literacy. However through this article the sheep farmers of the province can be helped in selecting their breeding rams through visual appraisal on certain desired breeding traits/ characters. The farmers in the province mostly practice breed specific selective breeding and like to retain ewe lambs, from their own breeding rams. Therefore much attention is required towards selection of true to type breeding rams. The ram must beer the traits which are heritable and, definable, by visual methods and which have an economic value. The breeding goals in addition to body growth and conformation must emphasise fleece characters such as fibre length, fibre density and above all the wool colour which should be white with minimum grease, etc.). Use only selected rams for breeding and castrate all males so as to enforce the required breeding traits.Strive to keep inbreeding below 5% per generation. As the coefficient of inbreeding (COI, the degree of relatedness) increases in a flock, inbreeding depression may occur, during which fertility, growth, and other reproductive traits tend to decline. Such declines are especially dramatic when the COI reaches or exceeds 30%. It is therefore advised that the sheep breeders exchange breeding rams.
Author Keywords: Breeding Ram Selection, Balochistan Sheep Breeds.
How to Cite this Article
Taj Muhammad Hassani, Muhammad Kamran Taj, and Imran Taj, “BREEDING RAM SELECTION AND ITS ROLE IN IMPROVEMENT OF BALOCHISTAN SHEEP BREEDS,” International Journal of Innovation and Scientific Research, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 255–257, September 2014.
