A comparative analysis of economic traits between purebred and synthesized sheep breeds in dry and harsh environments of Iran

The present study aimed to compare economic traits of Baluchi as an indigenous purebred and Iran-Black and Arman as synthesized breeds of sheep in Iran. Data of Baluchi, Iran-Black and Arman were collected from the Abbas Abad Breeding Station located in Mashhad, Iran. The studied pre-weaning traits included birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW), and survival from birth to weaning (SU). The studied reproductive traits included litter size at birth (LSB), litter size at weaning (LSW), total litter weight at birth (TLWB), and total litter weight at weaning (TLWW). Data was analyzed using the generalized linear model (GLM) procedure in SAS software. The least square means were compared using a Tukey test at a significance level of 0.05. The least square means for BW were 3.87, 3.71 and 3.75 kg, for WW were 20.06, 20.86 and 20.98 kg, and for SU were 88.26, 82.94 and 90.26 percent in Baluchi, Iran-Black and Arman sheep, respectively. The least square means for LSB and LSW were 1.31, 1.59, 1.57 lambs born per ewe and 1.17, 1.31, 1.42 lambs weaned per ewe for Baluchi, Iran-Black and Arman sheep, respectively. The least square means for TLWB in purebred and synthetic breeds differed significantly, with values of 5.66 kg, 6.25 kg, and 6.31 kg for Baluchi, Iran-Black and Arman sheep, respectively. Furthermore, the least square means for TLWW was 28.94 kg, 32.16 kg and 33.67 kg per ewe in Baluchi, Iran- Black and Arman sheep, respectively. The results obtained in this study indicated that TLWW in Iran-Black and Arman ewes increased by approximately 11.13 % and 16.34 % compared to Baluchi ewes, respectively. It can be concluded that crossbreeding Baluchi sheep with foreign breeds to create synthetic breeds has had a positive impact on the efficiency of the sheep industry in Iran.