Produção de leite de ovelhas Santa Inês e Dorper e sua relação com o desempenho das crias.

Abstract

Changes in the sheep meat production scenario boost the selection of sows that have higher milk production in order to wean heavier lambs. In this contexto, the aim was to measure the production of Santa Inês and Dorper sheep, relating it to the performance of lambs. The experiment was conducted at the Paraiba State Agricultural Reasearch Corporation – EMEPA, located in the municipality of Tacima-PB, from November 2018 to January 2019. Were selected five Santa Inês and two Dorper multiparous ewes with simple childbirth. Milk yield was evaluated by the double weighing method. To evaluate the weight performance of the offspring, digital scales were weighed at birth and every 4 days until weaning. The body condition of the ewes was evaluated by digital scale weighing and body condition score estimate at childbirth, 21, 42 and 64 days post childbirth. The meteorological variations air temperature (AT; oC), relative humidity (RH;%), solar radiation (SR; W m-2; λ = 0,300 to 3,6 μm) and wind speed (WS; ms-1) were recorded using portable weather station. Data were analyzed according to a randomized design using the statistic R program, with repeated measures over time, considering animals as a random effect. The monthly average variation of the climatic variations was maxAT = 37.73 oC, RH = 67.01%, WS = 2.54 U ms-1 and maxSR = 1279.00 W m-2. The animals had and average production of 1.58 L/ ewe / day and peak lactation between the 8th and the 24th day after parturition. In relation to the lambs, the average birth weight was 4.33 kg, at weaning it was 17.35 kg with an average daily gain og 222g. Dorper animals had a higer mean BCS than Santa Inês animals at birth and weaning. The animals had an average milk production of 1.58 L / ewe / day, with peak lactation between the second and fourth week of lactation. Considering birth weight, average daily gain and weight at weaning, lambs perform well at pre-weaning, however, futher studies are needed including more lambs performances variables to predict the effect of milk production on performance.