The effects of some variables on the components of reproduction rate in the Merino

Abstract

Reproductive records covering 4855 ewe-years coming from five strains of Merino ewe run at three locations over 5 years were classified into those which resulted in (a) failure to lamb, (b) a single birth, or (c) a multiple birth. Age of ewe was included as a further classification, while pre-mating body weight was considered as a covariate. The data were analysed by least squares procedures.

In all analyses in which components of variance were estimated, error variance constituted more than 90% of the total. Of the main effects, those due to age were generally largest, particularly where they related to the proportion of dry ewes and multiple births, though year effects on the proportion of dry ewes ranged up to 0.10. The effects of pre-mating body weight on lambing performance were small though real, the largest being an increase of 0.37% of multiple births per pound increase in body weight.

First order interactions were generally small, the most prominent being location x strain, location x age, and location x year. The third of these had the largest effects and accounted for more of the variance. This was particularly so in the proportions of dry ewes and single births. Location x age interactions, on the other hand, were more prominent in affecting the proportion of multiple births, where the increase with age was much less marked at one location than at the other two. Strain x location interactions were not large enough to suggest any marked adaptation of strains to particular locations in these mutually dependent traits.