Study on effect of hybrid combination of mutton sheep and Hu sheep in western Gansu Province
The purpose of the experiment was to study the production performance and meat performance of the first generation hybrid sheep and Hu sheep pure breeding group in western Gansu Province,and to screen the cross combination mode of mutton sheep suitable for the ecological conditions in this region.A cross experiment was carried out with Dorper sheep,Australian white sheep,and Suffolk sheep as male parents and Hu sheep as female parents.According to the principle of similar weight and age,90 hybrid lambs were randomly selected and divided into Duhu Group(DHF1 group),Aohu Group(AHF1 group),and Sahu Group(SHF1 group),with three replicates in each group and 10 sheep in each replicate.Thirty pure breeding(HHF1 group)sheep were used as control group to compare the growth performance,meat production performance and meat quality of F1 lambs in each group.The results showed that the five-month-old body weight and average daily gain of F1 lambs in each experimental group were significantly higher than those in control group(P<0.05),and the highest in DHF1 group.The live weight before slaughter,carcass weight,slaughter rate,eye muscle area,and GR value of F1 lambs in each experimental group were higher than those in the control group,among which DHF1 group was significantly higher than control group(P<0.05).The essential amino acids accounted for more than 40%of total amino acids and essential amino acids accounted for more than 70%of non-essential amino acids in each group,which were higher than the recommended values of FAO/WHO.Comprehensive comparison showed that DHF1 group had the better meat performance.The results show that DHF1 group has fast growth and development,high slaughter performance,and relatively good meat quality,which can be preferentially popularized and applied as a binary hybrid model for commercial mutton sheep production in western Gansu Province.