Some General Comments on The Results For Sheep Breeding Researches at Atatürk University Farm

Abstract

This article puts forward to brief comparative results of three unpressed doctorate thesis relating to the investigation on Merino, Morkaraman and their crosses which were maintained in Ataturk University farm, Erzurum. It contains; (i) General aspects of sheep population in Türkiye for both pure and crossbred genotypes relating to domestic and improved sheep breeds were summarized, (ii) The aims of research projects which were undertaken in Ataturk University farm were outlined, (iii) The effects of environmental factors such as year, age of ewe, breeding systems, birth status and sex relating productive and reproductive traits depended on data collected from Merino, Morkaraman and their crossbred sheep flocks were analyzed, (iv) Genetic parameters as heritability, repeatability and correlation estimates for the characteristics studied have been calculated from data adjusted for the effects of statistically significant environmental factors, (v) It was concluded that it can be possible to developed a more productive type of sheep for the establishment of a new Morkaraman flock in the area, by mating inter se of the members of a combination of the genotypic groups and applying a selection program for the criterions aimed.