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A comparison of the Suffolk and Vendeen breeds when used as terminal sires for crossbred lamb production

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2017

B G Merrell
B G Merrell*
Affiliation:
ADAS Redesdale, Rochester, Otterburn, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE19 1SB
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Extract

Lamb carcass quality is becoming economically more important. Crossbred lamb production in the UK is based upon the use of terminal sire breeds, chosen for carcass characteristics, mated to crossbred ewes, chosen for maternal attributes. The choice of terminal sire breed represents the most immediate option available to the commercial producer to improve the carcass characteristics of finished lambs. Previous studies (Croston, Guy, Jones, and Kempster, 1983; Cameron and Drury, 1985; Merrell, Webster and Ellis, 1990) have compared several terminal sire breeds, but these have tended to concentrate on the British Down breeds, particularly the Suffolk, and tne numerically more important imported breeds, such as the Texel and Charollais. Vendeen sheep were imported from France in 1981 but little information was available on growth and carcass traits of Vendeen crossbred lambs. A three year experiment compared, within a flock, the performance of the crossbred progeny of Suffolk and Vendeen rams.

Type
Small Ruminant Production
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (1972) , Volume 1993: Winter meeting , March 1993 , pp. 116
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1993

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References

Croston, D., Guy, D.R., Jones, D.W. and Kempster, A. J. 1983. Animal Production 36: 504 (Abstract)Google Scholar
Cameron, N.D. and Drury, D.J. 1985. Animal Production 40: 315–322.Google Scholar
Merrell, B. G., Webster, G. M. and Ellis, M. 1990. BSAP Occasional Publication No. 14, 169–172.Google Scholar