Study On The Growth-Development And Productivity Of Tan Sheep In Ning-Xia

The study was conducted to compare the difference of the growth-development and productivity parameters between white and black Tan sheep, including birth weight and kidskin quality which was correlated with skin characters, before9month-old. The result showed that the lamb birth weight of white and black Ning-xia Tan sheep were more than4kg, except the ewe lamb of black Ning-xia Tan sheep, and the ram lamb of white Ning-xia Tan sheep has the biggest weight; At4months old, the body weight of both species were over20kg, and white ram lamb average body weight could achieve25.46kg; For6months old Tan sheep, their body weight were more than30kg, and white Ning-xia Tan sheep body weight ram lambs’were32.04kg, which was significantly higher than the ewe (P<0.05). The body weight of black Ning-xia Tan sheep ram lambs was31.54kg, which was significantly higher than the ewe (P<0.05) and the white Ning-xia Tan sheep ewe (P<0.05); When it was7months old, the body weight of black Ning-xia Tan sheep ram lambs were35.08kg. In the first two months after birth, the white Ning-xia Tan sheep lamb had an absolutely high growth rate, and the daily body gain of ram lamb was224.67g, while212.67g for ewe. During the first three months after birth, the white Ning-xia Tan sheep lamb had an absolute and a relative growth rate compared with the black Ning-xia Tan sheep, and its daily gain was over180g in the first month after birth, but black Ning-xia Tan sheep could keep a quickly growing and developing periods, which was longer than white Ning-xia Tan sheep. However, the lamb of white Ning-xia Tan sheep could transfer well from breast milk to forage, furthermore, the adaptability was better than black Ning-xia Tan sheep lamb. During the whole study, the body length of white Ning-xia Tan sheep lamb was longer than the black, and the withers height of white Ning-xia Tan sheep ram lamb was also higher than the black. There were certain differences in productivity for the two species. Considering sheep lambskin quality, the white was better than the black, which maybe due to the higher breeding of white Tan sheep, and then we should continue breeding to improve its productivity further. However, the black need to strengthen breeding for its worse uniformity.