Genetic improvement of meat sheep. 1. A comparison of different methods of correcting weaning weight for age of lamb

Abstract

Several methods of correcting lamb weaning weight for age were compared. Lambs were weighed at birth, at 90 ± 1 day of age, when the oldest and when the youngest lamb was 90 days and when the average age of lambs was 90 days. Weights were adjusted to 90 days by the methods of regression, regression pooled within sire groups, average daily gain with and without a standard birth weight and weight per day of age. All the correction methods examined gave similar results and there was no significant difference between methods. The correlations between the actual 90-day weight and the adjusted weights ranged from 0.922 to 0.960 and were highest when the weights taken when the average age of lambs was 90 days were used as the basis for adjustment. All adjusted weights were significantly biased as estimates of actual 90-day weight, but the bias was least for weights when average age was 90 days.