Fattening performance and carcass traits of lambs obtained by crossing the hasmer and hasak sheep types with the akkaraman breed

Abstract

The present study investigated the fattening performance and carcass traits of lambs obtained by the crossing of the Hasak and Hasmer sheep types, developed at the Bahri Daǧdas International Agricultural Research Institute, with publicly owned Akkaraman sheep. Of each of these groups, 7 male and 7 female lambs of approximately 75 days of age were raised under an intensive feedlot system. The fattening period lasted 70 days, and, at the end of this period, 5 lambs were slaughtered from each group with the aim of determining carcass traits. In conclusion, the percentage of tail fat was reduced with the decreasing share of the Akkaraman genotype in the genome. However, crossing of Akkaraman sheep with Hasak and Hasmer types did not improve the fattening performance and carcass quality compared with purebred Akkaraman lambs. © TüBITAK.