The Suffolk is the most well-known of the English lowland sheep breeds. A black-faced sheep with short-stapled wool, the breed is used primarily for meat production. The Suffolk is classified as one of the breeds with the best ability to fatten and its meat yield is approximately 60%. The breed is characterised by its good adaptability to different climate and breeding conditions and overall good health. The ewes are known for their high fertility rate, shorter oestrus cycle, excellent maternal instincts, and high milk production. As a result of these characteristics, the Suffolk has become a very popular breed around the world. This thesis focuses on the breeding of Suffolk sheep as one of the best breeds for the production of slaughter lambs. The thesis also looks at reproduction as a part of sheep breeding, as well as at the factors that have an effect on pregnancy, the birthing process, and the newborn lamb. The main objective of this thesis was to process the lambing data for a specific herd of Suffolk sheep, including performing an evaluation of the basic reproductive indicators, calculating the birth weight of lambs, and determining the ideal age for including ewes in the breeding herd. The basic reproductive indicators include fertility, fertilisation, breeding intensity, and weaned lamb production. In the studied herd of sheep, these indicators were calculated as follows: fertility 182%; fertilisation 91%; breeding intensity 155%; and weaned lamb production 159%. The average birth weight of the lambs was 3.9 kg and the average optimal age for inclusion in the breeding herd was determined to be 17.5 months.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:nusl.cz/oai:invenio.nusl.cz:188063 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | ŠULCOVÁ, Veronika |
| Source Sets | Czech ETDs |
| Language | Czech |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/masterThesis |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
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