Effect of lambing interval on production characteristics in Kurdi local ewes of Kurdistan region, Iraq

The aim of this was to investigate the effects of lambing interval and some non- genetic factors (age of dam, season of lambing, sex of lamb, type of birth and ewes weight) on test day milk yield (TDM), total milk production (TMP), lactation period (LP), birth weight (BW) and weaning weight (WW).This study was carried out on200 local Kurdi ewes in Erbil plain, Kurdistan region during July, 2013 to July, 2014. The overall mean for the TDM, TMP, LP, BW and WW were 417.08 g, 47.35kg, 113.79 days, 3.68kg and31.25kg, respectively. Results revealed that lambing interval, age of dam, season of lambing, sex of lambsand type of birth significantly affected (p 0.05)TDM, TMP, BW and WW. The weight of dam had a significant effect (p 0.05) on BW and WW. Lambing interval was negatively correlated (P 0.01) with WW (-0.184). It was concluded that lambing interval, age of dam, season of lambing, sex of lambs and type of birth played a role in the variations of TDM, TMP, BW and WW in Kurdi ewes. The shorter the lambing interval the heavier the WW of lambs .It was also concluded that accelerated lambing is possible in Kurdijewe due to their non- seasonality. A three lambing during two years may be a preferable strategy to increase meat as well as milk from Kurdi local ewes.