Sheep Reproductive Performance and Lamb Survivability under Mature Oil Palm

2014

English

The study examines the seasonal reproductive performance of sheep reared under oil palm plantation and the subsequent survival of lambs up to weaning age. On-station studies were carried out from 2007 to 2010 at CSIROil Palm Research Institute, Kusi (001.45 W, 0600 N and 150 m above sea level). The average total rainfall is about 1600 mm/annum with average daily maximum temperature of 32±2°C. Sheep productivity (% lambing, litter size per ewe, survival rate, monthly birth and death rates) were the variables measured. An annual average of 58 ewes and 4 lambs were used. Results show that while lambing rate was 98%, lamb survival was 63.84%. This implies that almost two-fifth of yearly reproduction was lost to mortality with significantly large number of lambs dying in August. Though there was high percentage of lambing, this was offset by high mortality of lambs.

Larbi, E.; Okyere, S. A.; Danso, F.; Danso, I.; Ahenkora, E. M.