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Asian Journal of Animal Sciences

Year: 2015 | Volume: 9 | Issue: 6 | Page No.: 448-453
DOI: 10.3923/ajas.2015.448.453
Impact of Sire Birth Weight on Dhofari Calves Growth Characteristics from the Salalah Livestock Research Station
Salim Bahashwan, Abdulla Salim Alrawas and Salim Alfadli

Abstract: The present study was carried out to find the effect of sire birth weight on the Dhofari calf’s breed growth traits of birth weight, weaning weight, yearling weight, pre-weaning, post-weaning daily gain, dam gestation length and calving ease score . Seasonal interaction with the sire birth weight effect on calf’s growth traits was also investigated. Growth traits of calf’s were classified to seasonal (cold, hot and temperate) interaction with sire birth weight class. Data of different weight records of 558 calf’s’ and their relative dams sired by 40 Dhofari bulls breed from Salalah Livestock Research Station were used in this study. The different calf’s growth traits were classified into three classes according to sire birth weights (high, medium and low). The data were analyzed by multivariate General Linear Model (GLM) using SPSS. Analysis showed significant (p<0.05) effect of sire birth weight class on all calf’s growth traits. Calf’s of high class sire birth weights proved to be heavier for all growth traits than sired by medium and low class bulls. There was a strong positive significant (p<0.01) correlation between sire birth weight class and all calf’s growth traits with the highest being with calf’s birth weight. The interaction between season and sire birth weight class showed significant (p<0.05) effect on calf’s pre-weaning and post weaning daily gain during the temperate season but none (p>0.05) for the other growth traits of birth weight, weaning weight and yearling weight. Heavier calf’s sired by high sire birth class had a significant (p<0.05) longer dam gestation length than those of low class sire birth weights. There was a significant (p<0.05) correlation between sire birth weight class and gestation length of the dam. However, there was no significant (p>0.05) effect of calf’s sex on the dams gestation length. Analysis showed that dams sired by high sire birth weight class had heavier calf’s and this had a significant (p<0.05) effect on the dams calving ease of score in comparison to dams sired by medium and low sire birth classes.

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How to cite this article
Salim Bahashwan, Abdulla Salim Alrawas and Salim Alfadli, 2015. Impact of Sire Birth Weight on Dhofari Calves Growth Characteristics from the Salalah Livestock Research Station. Asian Journal of Animal Sciences, 9: 448-453.

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