Dairy sheep production research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA – a review

Table 2 Performance of lambs and ewes sired by purebred East Friesian (n = 14) or purebred Lacaune (n = 6) rams¹

Trait	Breed of sire of lamb or ewe
Trait	East Friesian	Lacaune
Lamb growth: (n = 1,794 lambs born)
Birth wt., kg	5.04 ± 0.09^a	4.64 ± 0.09^b
30-d wt., kg	14.3 ± 0.2^a	13.3 ± 0.3^b
150-d wt., kg	48.4 ± 1.1^a	48.9 ± 1.2^a
Ewe reproduction: (n = 942 exposures)
Fertility (ewes lambing/ewes exposed),%	96.7 ± 1.4^a	94.6 ± 1.4^a
Prolificacy (lambs born/ewes lambing), no.	1.85 ± 0.06^a	1.69 ± 0.07^b
Ewe lactation: (n = 796 lactations)
Lactation length, d	161.4 ± 3.8^a	155.2 ± 4.0^a
Milk yield, kg	209.4 ± 9.8^a	194.8 ± 11.5^a
Fat yield, kg	12.3 ± 0.6^a	12.5 ± 0.7^b
Fat,%	5.75 ± 0.09^b	6.31 ± 0.11^a
Protein yield, kg	10.3 ± 0.5^a	10.1 ± 0.6^b
Protein,%	4.81 ± 0.06^b	5.15 ± 0.06^a

¹Performance data were collected from 1999 through 2004 from lambs and ewes born between 1999 and 2004.
^a,bMeans within a row with no superscript in common are different (P < 0.05).

ISSN: 2049-1891