In this research, the effects of dam age and type of birth and sex of lambs on birth weight of Akkaraman lambs was investigated at village conditions in Konya province. Additionally, the heritability and repeatability of birth weight was estimated. The Least-squares means of birth weight was 4.07±0.04 kg. The effects of dam age, year, birth type and sex on birth weight were found statistically significant. The heritability and repeatability of birth weight were found as 0.052±0.04 and 0.130±0.04, respectively.

Bu çalışma, Kırşehir İlinde yetiştirilen Akkaraman ırkı koyunlarda gebeliğin son döneminde yapılan ek yemlemenin kuzularda doğum ve çeşitli dönemlerdeki ağırlıklar üzerine etkisinin belirlenmesi amacı ile yapılmıştır. Araştırma materyalini, 580 baş Akkaraman koyunu ve bunların 2015 doğum sezonunda doğurmuş oldukları 554 baş Akkaraman kuzusu oluşturmuştur. Akkaraman koyunları iki gruba ayrılmıştır. Her iki gruba da buğday samanı gebelik süresince verilmiştir. Ek yemleme grubuna (EYG), gebeliğin son döneminde buğday samanına ek kesif yem (400 gr/hayvan) verilmiştir. Kontrol grubuna (KG) ise gebelik süresince sadece buğday samanı verilmiştir. Araştırmada kuzuların çeşitli dönem canlı ağırlıkları, yaşama güçleri ve Akkaraman koyunlarının bazı döl verim özellikleri incelenmiştir. Akkaraman koyunlarında döl verim özelliklerinden kısırlık oranı, doğum oranı, ikizlik oranı, yavru atma oranı, koç altı koyun başına kuzu sayısı ve doğuran koyun başına kuzu sayısı değerleri EYG ve KG gruplarında sırasıyla %12 ve %9, %86 ve %91, %13 ve %5, %2 ve %0, 0,96 ve 0,95, 1,12 ve 1,04 olarak bulunmuştur. Kuzularda yaşama gücü 90. gün ve 120. günde EYG ve KG gruplarında sırasıyla %84, %80 ve %91, %91 olarak tespit edilmiştir. Akkaraman kuzularının doğum, 90. ve 120. günlük yaştaki canlı ağırlık ortalamaları EYG ve KG gruplarında sırasıyla 5,82±0,06 kg, 30,94±0,44 kg, 35,91±0,09 kg ve 3,43±0,05 kg, 30,17±0,39 kg, 30,84±0,39 kg olarak tespit edilmiştir. Ek yemlemenin, cinsiyet ve doğum tipine göre, doğum ağırlığı ve 120. gün yaş ağırlığı üzerine etkisi önemli bulunmuştur. 90. gün ağırlığı bakımından ise sadece doğum tipinin etkisi çok önemli bulunmuştur. Sonuç olarak, gebeliğin son döneminde yapılan ek yemlemenin kuzuların doğum ve 120. gün ağırlıklarını artırdığı tespit edilmiştir.

Bu çalışma entansif olarak besiye alınan Akkaraman ve İvesi kuzuların besi performans özellikleri üzerine kırkımın etkisi incelenmek amacıyla yapılmıştır. Araştırmada 10 baş Akkaraman ve 8 baş İvesi erkek kuzu kullanılmıştır. Besi süresince hayvanlara 150 g kuru yonca otu ve ad-libitum olarak kesif yem verilmiştir. Çalışmada, Akkaraman ve İvesi kuzular deneme hayvanları kırkım yapılan ve kırkım yapılmayan olmak üzere iki deneme grubuna ayrılımştır. Kuzuların kırkım öncesinde ve sonrasındaki toplam canlı ağırlık artışı, günlük canlı ağırlık artışı, yem tüketimi ve yem değerlendirme katsayısı sırasıyla 8,017 kg, 47,14 kg ve 5,945 ve 8,606 kg, 307 g, 42,21 kg ve 5,029 olarak bulunmuştur. Kırkım yapılmayan kuzuların ise toplam canlı ağırlık artışı 7,802 kg, günlük canlı ağırlık artışı 279 g, yem tüketimi 42,06 kg ve yem değerlendirme katsayısı 6,00 olarak bulunmuştur. Çalışma sonucunda besi performansı bakımından kırkım yapılan ve yapılmayan grupların ortalamaları arasındaki fark istatistik olarak önemsiz bulunmuştur.

In this study, growth performance of Akkaraman lambs and some fertility parameters of Akkaraman sheep raised in semi extensive farm conditions were investigated. A total of 6300 heads Akkaraman ewes (6000 ewes and 300 rams) housed in 34 farms located in central villages of Niğde province were evaluated between 2012 and 2016. The data of birth weight of 30161 lambs, body weight of 29517 lambs aged 90 days old and some fertility parameters of 30000 heads ewes were used. The average lambing rate of ewes was found 90.1%. The twining rate of ewes was 20.8%; the average litter size was 1.12 lambs. Birth weights of Akkaraman sheep lambs was 4.23 kg, average 90th day live weights were 23.05 kg. Effects of year, birth type, dam age, and sex were found statistically significant on birth and 90-day live weights of the Akkaraman lambs. As a result, it was concluded that the fertility of Akkaraman sheep and growth characteristics of lambs raised by public under semi-extensive conditions could be improved and the economic situation of sheep farms could be better by the implementation such improvement project.

In Turkey, there are 31.1 million head sheep in 2014. Central Anatolia Region has 8.3% of this total number. Nigde is the most important sheep producer province in this region. In this study it is aimed to determine marketing structure of products obtained from sheep production activities, define problems of it and present solutions for these problems. The main material of the research was consisted of primary data obtained from 39 Akkaraman sheep producers in Çamardı district in Nigde. In the sheep farms, milk production yield was 1374.4 kg per year. As 73.5% of this yield was presented to market, rest of it was used for self-consumption. Milk was generally sold to local traders. In the operations, livestock also was sold. When 89.7% of livestock sold to kasaps 10.3% of it was sold to local traders. It can be said that producers who are the members of cooperatives were very low and 51.3% of the producers stated that cooperatives can be useful for the solutions of marketing problems of sheep products. Main expectations of producers from cooperatives were providing them market alternative, providing easiness for processing of products and leading to increasing numbers and kinds of buyers in the market.

Bu çalışmada üçlü terminal melez kuzuların elde edilmesi için baba hattı olarak Charollais kullanılmıştır. Baba hattı olarak Charollais ırkı ile (n=4) ana hattı olarak Romanov x Akkaraman (F1) (n=40) ve Romanov x Morkaraman (F1) (n=40) koyunları çiftleşme mevsimi içinde ve dışında laparoskopik suni tohumlama programı ile gebe bırakılmışlardır. İki farklı doğum sezonu olan bahar (Nisan) ve yaz (Temmuz) mevsimlerinde, anaç soylardan doğan kuzularda 150 günlük gelişme özellikleri incelenmiştir. Bahar döneminde doğan terminal melez kuzuların 150 günlük yaştaki vücut ölçülerine anaç soy genotipi ve doğum şeklinin etkisi önemli iken yaz döneminde doğan kuzularda istatistiksel olarak önemsiz bulunmuştur. Cinsiyetin vücut ölçüleri üzerine etkisi bahar döneminde doğan kuzularda istatistiksel olarak önemsiz, yaz döneminde doğan kuzularda ise istatistiksel olarak önemli bulunmuştur.

The aim of the present study was to compare the incidence of brucellosis in groups of Kangal Akkaraman sheep flocks raised in farm conditions in Sivas province. The first and second groups of the sheep flocks were part of the 8 sub-projects which belong to The Project entitled “Nationwide Genetic Improvement of Small Ruminants in Farm Condition” continued for 7 and 1-3 years, respectively. The third group of the sheep flocks was not part of this nationwide project. The study material consisted of 1491 units of blood serum (n=278, 1166 and 47 for the first, second and third groups, respectively). Brucella antibodies were looked for in blood serum using tube and slide agglutination tests. The incidences of brucellosis were 4% and 7.5% in flocks which were part of the nationwide project continued for 7 and 3 years, respectively and 25.5% for the flocks not part of the nationwide project. The differences between groups were found statistically significant. Even though there was no brucella vaccination programs in the flocks of the nationwide project, practices such as regular controls of the flocks by veterinary technicians, drug/vaccination applications for parasites and some other diseases, removal of rams positive for brucella before breeding season significantly reduced the incidence of brucella. As a result, promoting good breeding practices along with the brucella vaccination program applied by the related Ministry can be very beneficial for the eradication of brucella disease that is a big problem for the country.

Conducted within the National Sheep and Goat Breeding “subproject: Akkaraman Sheep Breeding Project under farmer conditions in Nigde’s Bor district” between 2018 and 2022, the current study evaluated the reproductive characteristics of ewes as well as the livability and growth traits of lambs. This study investigated some ‘reproductive traits’ of an average of 6000 ewes per year and ‘growth performance and ‘survival traits’ of a total of 30051 head lambs. The birth weight (LBW), 60th-day body weight (BW60), 120th-day body weight (BW120), and 120th-day body weight gain (BWG120) of Akkaraman lambs during the study periods were 4.14±0.19 kg, 18.58±0.03 kg, 31.31±0.02 kg, and 246±2.23 g/lamb/day, respectively. In the study, among the factors affecting the growth characteristics of Akkaraman lambs, only the effect of gender on BWG120 and birth type on BW120 was found to be insignificant. In contrast, the other factors were found to be found to be statistically significant. In the study, it was determined that the number of lambs per Akkaraman ewe giving birth between 2018-2022 varied between 1.03-1.10. The highest livability in Akkaraman lambs was determined in 2018 (96.61%) and the lowest in 2020 (83.21%). As a result, it was found that liveability in Akkaraman lambs was dependent on birth year, the age of the ewe, gender, and birth type.