| Popis: |
The age and liveweight at puberty were evaluated in 2155 crossbred ewe lambs at 2 sites over 3 years. A separate dataset examined the lambing performance of 1177 crossbred ewe lambs that were joined naturally at ~7 months of age at 2 sites over 3 years and also their lambing performances in the subsequent 2 years. The ewe lambs were the progeny of Merino dams and sires from several breeds including Border Leicester, East Friesian, Finnsheep, Coopworth, White Suffolk, Corriedale, and Booroola Leicester. Overall, 85% of the ewe lambs reached puberty (detected by teasers) in their first autumn at an average age of 248 days and liveweight of 42 kg. There was significant variation in age and weight at puberty (P |
