Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
ADSA 2025 Annual Meeting, Kentucky, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, 22 - 25 Haziran 2025, cilt.108, sa.1, ss.337, (Özet Bildiri)
Awassi sheep, a prominent breed originating from the Middle East, are well-regarded for their adaptability to arid environments and their robust production traits under traditional conditions. This study was conducted to investigate the lactation performance of Turkish Awassi sheep, focusing on average milk yield and fat percentage across different months of lambing, litter sizes, and parities. A total of 1,718 test-day records from 198 lactations of 82 Awassi sheep, which were reared over 3 consecutive years, were used for this study. In the study, the average litter size, gestation period, age, fat percentage, lactation milk yield, and lactation period were determined as 1.5 ± 0.01; 150 ± 0.3 d; 2.8 ± 0.05 years; 6.1% ± 0.07%; 125 ± 3.4 L; and 159 ± 2.2 d, respectively. The average test-day milk yield increased with the application of better management conditions between the first and third years: 579 ± 53.7 mL, 944 ± 50.4 mL, and 979 ± 49.6 mL (P < 0.001), respectively. Ewes lambing in February had a higher average lactation milk yield (153.2 ± 11.4 L) compared with those lambing in March (132.5 ± 14.3 L; P < 0.05). Litter size significantly affected both lactation milk yield and test-day milk yield, with triplet-bearing ewes yielding the most (189.2 ± 33.1 L; P < 0.01) compared with single-lambing ewes (109.3 ± 6.0 L). The effect of parity was also significant, as ewes in their third lactation tended to produce more test-day milk yield (957 ± 49.6 mL) compared with first-parity ewes (730 ± 61.6 mL; P < 0.001). As a result, the month of lambing had a significant effect on milk yield, and improved management conditions positively affected milk production in Turkish Awassi sheep. Key Words: Turkish Awassi, milk yield, litter size