Reproductive performance of Indian crossbred deccani ewes carrying the 'FecB' mutation

Abstract

This paper presents the results of introgression of the FecB mutation influencing prolificacy from the small Garole sheep of West Bengal into the Deccani sheep of the dry, monsoonal Deccan plateau. It was found in the breeding program at the Nimbkar Agricultural Research Institute (NARI) that one copy of the mutation increased the number of lambs born alive per ewe lambing (NLB) by 0.54. The effect of the mutation on NLB appeared to be almost completely dominant. The number of lambs alive at 3 months per ewe lambing increased by 0.41 with one copy of the mutation and the total weight of 3-month old lamb produced increased by 17%. Heterozygous and homozygous ewes tended to have lower weights as they were not subjected to much selection pressure for body weight or growth. The performance of FecB carrier ewes born in local smallholders' flocks following the introduction of carrier rams produced in the NARI breeding program is currently being evaluated.