Lambing Interval in Jezersko-Solčava and Improved Jezersko-Solčava Breed

The effects on lambing interval (LI) in Improved Jezersko-Solčava (IJS) breed were studied. Due to the reason that IJS breed originates from Jezersko-Solčava (JS) breed, both breeds were included into the analysis. The data were obtained from the Republic Data Base for Selection of Small Ruminants, between 1993 and 2008. The analysis included 66,755 lambings from 280 breeders. The statistical model included breed, parity, litter size at previous lambing, month of the previous lambing, year of the previous lambing, breed of the ram, geographical location of the flock, interaction between month of the previous lambing and breed of the ram, interaction between parity and month of the previous lambing, interaction between breed of the ewe and month of the previous lambing, and interaction between breed of the ewe and litter size at previous lambing as fixed effects. Flock and interaction between year of the previous lambing and flock were treated randomly. Month of the previous lambing affects LI, which is gradually shortening from February to August, and prolonging from August to February. The number of live born lambs significantly affected LI. LI between the first and the second parity and between the second and the third parity was longer than between higher parities. From 1993 to 1999, the LI was decreasing, and increasing thereafter. Ewes mated with JS ram had longer lambing interval than ewes mated with IJS ram. Among all observed effects, flock affected LI the most

Competitiveness of Livestock Production in Slovenia During the Process of Association to the EU

By joining the European Union (EU) Slovene livestock production will be faced with changed conditions. The production will have to adapt to the values and quality achieved during the negotiations with the EU. Currently, milk production in Slovenia nearly equals the negotiated quotas. In the coming years a decrease of about 14,000 dairy cows, and about 4,000 dairy herds is expected. The number of cows per farm will therefore increase from 9.3 to over 12.5 cows, while the purchased milk per cow will reach 5,100 kg and purchased milk per farm 63,000 kg. Existing estimates show that after the accession to the EU the prices of young fattened cattle and calves will increase. Hence the interest in meat production will improve, and home consumption (23 kg per capita) will be exceeded by about 10 %, if industrial crossing prevails. Large scale pig farms will have to solve the manure problems. In the coming years pig production on family farms will increase because family farms can better solve the slurry problem. In poultry production the production of turkeys has increased (15 %), and more free range broilers have been produced. The production will exceed the domestic consumption being now 25 kg per capita per year. We consume 180 eggs per capita, which equals the production. Our needs will thus be covered in future. The number of sheep and goats has been increasing for the past 10 years. It even exceeded the negotiated quota last year hence an increased number of small ruminants cannot be expected, but higher meat consumption and increased quantities of milk and milk products can be achieved

Genetic and environmental dispersion parameter estimation by test interval method in dairy sheep

Genetic and environmental parameters for 38 983 test-day records of daily milk yield (DMY), fat (FC) and protein (PC) content, collected between 1994 and 2002, were estimated on 3,068 dairy ewes of the three Slovenian breeds. A multivariate restricted maximum likelihood method was used for estimation, where every test-day record was treated as a different trait. Fixed part of the multitrait animal model for DMY, FC, and PC included breed and lambing season as classes, while stage of lactation, parity, and litter size were covariates. Random part of the model contained additive genetic effect and the effects of flock test month and permanent environment over lactations. Heritability estimates for individual test-days were between 0.10 and 0.23 for DMY, 0.09 and 0.18 for FC, and 0.19 and 0.28 for PC. The flock test month effect explained most of the phenotypic variance: 0.18 to 0.41 for DMY, 0.26 to 0.45 for FC, and 0.24 to 0.44 for PC. A lower variance ratio was explained by the permanent environment effect over lactations: 0.09 to 0.15 for DMY, 0.02 to 0.11 for FC, and 0.02 to 0.09 for PC. Additive genetic correlations between individual test-days were high in all three milk traits for adjacent months of lactation. They decreased when the interval between months of lactation increased. The structure of additive genetic correlations showed that the observed milk traits in the different stages of lactation were genetically not the same trait, since the correlations between distant months of lactation were lower than one.Ocenjevali smo genetske in okoljske parametre za 38 983 meritev na kontrolni dan za količino mleka (DKM) ter vsebnost maščobe (VM) in beljakovin (VB) v mleku pri 3068 mlečnih ovcah treh slovenskih pasem. Meritve so bile zbrane med leti 1994 in 2002. Za oceno parametrov smo uporabili večlastnostno metodo omejenega največjega verjetja, kjer je vsaka meritev na kontrolni dan obravnavana kot druga lastnost. Sistematski del večlastnostnega modela živali za DKM, VM in VB je vključeval pasmo in sezono jagnjitve kot razrede, stadij laktacije, zaporedna jagnjitev in velikost gnezda pa so bili vključeni kot kovariable. Naključni del modela je vseboval aditivni genetski vpliv živali, vpliv skupnega okolja v tropu in vpliv permanentnega okolja živali. Heritabilitete za posamezne mesece laktacije so bile med 0,10 in 0,23 za DKM, med 0,09 in 0,18 za VM in med 0,19 in 0,28 za VB. Skupno okolje v tropu je pojasnilo največji del fenotipske variance: 0,18 do 0,41 za DKM, 0,26 do 0,45 za VB in 0,24 do 0,44 za VB. Vpliv permanentnega okolja živali je pojasnil manjši dele variance: 0,09 do 0,15 za DKM, 0,02 do 0,11 za VM in 0,02 do 0,09 za VB. Aditivne genetske korelacije med posameznimi lastnostmi mlečnosti sosednjih mesecev laktacije so bile močne in so se z oddaljevanjem mesecev laktacije zmanjševale. Struktura aditivnih genetskih korelacij kaže, da lastnosti mlečnosti v različnih stadijih laktacije genetsko niso ista lastnost, saj so korelacije med oddaljenimi zapisi manjše od ena

Effect of feeding system on growth and carcass characteristics of improved Jezersko-Solčava lambs

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding system on growth and carcass characteristics of Improved Jezersko-Solčava (JSR) weaned lambs. Thirty-five lambs (25.48 kg) housed in group pens were divided into four groups and offered different diets which consisted of hay and second harvest in the ratio of 40:60 and a supplement of 650 g concentrate (Diet 1), hay and second harvest in the ratio of 40:60 (Diet 2), hay and 650 g of concentrate (Diet 3), and just hay (Diet 4) for 50 days. Daily intake was calculated by weighting the offered amount and leftovers of concentrate and forage. Daily intake per lamb contained 15.56 MJ, 14.38 MJ, 16.57 MJ, and 12.23 MJ ME for the Diet 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Lambs were slaughtered at 30.77 kg of live weight. Lambs fed Diet 1 reached the highest DG (165.5 g/day), followed by Diet 3 (146.89 g/day), Diet 2 (123.55 g/day) and Diet 4 (75.51 g/day). HCW and CCW were higher in Diet 1 and 3, compared to Diet 2 and 4. Lambs fed Diet 3 had the highest DP (45.35%), followed by Diet 1, 2, and 4 with 44.33, 41.10 and 39.51%, respectively. The lowest kidney-pelvic fat was observed in lambs fed Diet 4 (5.64) and the highest in Diet 3 (7.66). These results demonstrate that fattening of weaned JSR lambs fed by forage-concentrate diets produced heavier carcasses than those only fed by forage, without significant effects on carcass fatness or carcass conformation.Ugotavljali smo vpliv različnega krmljenja na rast in klavne lastnosti odstavljenih jagnjet oplemenjene jezerskosolčavske pasme (JSR). Petintrideset jagnjet (25,48 kg) je bilo uhlevljenih v 4 skupine po 8-9 jagnjet in krmljenih z različnimi krmnimi obroki v intervalu 50 dni. Skupina 1 je dobivala seno in otavo (40:60) ter 650 g koncentrata, skupina 2 seno in otavo (40:60), skupina 3 seno in 650 g koncentrata ter skupina 4 samo seno. Dnevno zauživanje krme smo izračunali na podlagi dnevnih tehtanj koncentrata in voluminozne krme ter njihovih ostankov. Jagnjeta so dnevno zaužila v povprečju 15,56 MJ, 14,38 MJ, 16,57 MJ in 12,23 MJ ME v skupini 1, 2, 3 in 4. Jagnjeta smo zaklali pri povprečni telesni masi 30,77 kg. Jagnjeta iz skupine 1 so dosegla največji dnevni prirast (165,5 g/dan), sledila je skupina 3 (146,89 g/dan), nato skupina 2 (123,55 g/ dan) in skupina 4 (75,51 g/dan). Masa toplihin hladnih trupov je bila večja pri jagnjetih iz skupin 1 in 2 v primerjavi s skupinama 2 in 4. Jagnjeta iz skupine 3 so dosegla najboljšo klavnost (45,35 %), sledila so jagnjeta iz skupin 1, 2 in 4 (44,33, 41,10 in 39,51 %). Notranja zamaščenost je bila najnižje ocenjena pri trupih jagnjet iz skupine 4 (5,64), najvišje pa pri trupih jagnjet iz skupine 3 (7,66). Zaključimo lahko, da je pitanje odstavljenih JSR jagnjet z obroki na osnovi voluminozne krme in dokrmljevanjem s koncentratom prispevalo k hitrejši rasti in kot rezultat dajalo težje trupe, pri čemer se zamaščenost in mesnatost klavnih trupov ni statistično značilno spremenila