Effects of NonGenetic Factors and Permanent Maternal Environment on Biometric Traits in Moghani Sheep

The present study investigated basic statistics for biometric traits as well as non-genetic factors that may affect these traits in the Moghani breed of sheep. The data-set was computed by using biometric records of the Moghani sheep breeding and raising station over a period of 15 years (1996 to 2012). Year of birth, month of birth, birth type and lamb s sex and dam permanent environment were considered as the non-genetic factors. The studied biometric traits were: height at withers (HW), height at rump (HR), body length (BL), heart girth (HG) and leg circumference (LC). Least square means (cm) ± standard error were 69.8 ± 4.1, 69.7 ± 4.2, 50.2 ± 4.6, 85.9 ± 8.2 and 29.0 ± 5.4 for HW, HR, BL, HG and LC, respectively. All traits were affected significantly (P 0.05) by the fixed effect of year of birth. The lamb s sex had a significant effect (P 0.001) on the investigated traits except HG. The traits were affected significantly (P 0.001) by the birth type and month of birth. The maternal permanent environment as a non-genetic factor had no significant effect on the traits under study. The results of the present study suggested that non-genetic factors can be considered as notable sources of variation in the biometric traits. Therefore, improving environmental conditions can be suggested if an improvement in the biometric traits of Moghani sheep is desired.