Pre-Weaning Performance of Lambs under Traditional System of Production in

Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT: The study was carried out in three communities namely, Pekyi, Kokpong and Cheyohi in the Tolon Kumbungu District (TKD) to assess the growth performance of lambs kept under the traditional system of production. The parameters studied were birth weight, pre-weaning weight gain, ewe weight at birth, and pre-weaning ewe weight. Data was collected from 26 animals (14 lambs and 12 ewes) and analysed using anova, regression and graphs. The study lasted 12 weeks. Lambs had a mean birth weight of 1.6 kg, pre-weaning average weekly gain was 742 g and pre-weaning mean weight at 12 weeks was 10.7 kg. Mean birth weight (1.5 kg), mean pre-weaning weekly gain (730 g) and mean pre-weaning weight at 12 weeks (10.2 kg) of male lambs were lower than those of females which were 1.9 kg, 770 g and 11.2 kg respectively. Also single born male lambs had significantly higher birth weight (1.7 kg), pre-weaning average weekly gain (773 g) and pre-weaning weight at 12 weeks (11.1 kg) than female lambs which were 1.4 kg, 620 g and 9.3 kg respectively. With better management practices by the farmer, lambs under the traditional system could be improved greatly