Sheep-oil palm integration: growth performance of dorset x malin and dorset x siamese long tail sheep

Dahlan I.; Wattanachant, C.; Zulkifli A.; M. A. Rajion

Sheep-oil palm integration: growth performance of dorset x malin and dorset x siamese long tail sheep

1997

Dahlan I. | Wattanachant, C. | Zulkifli A. | M. A. Rajion

This study involved the integration of sheep into oil palm plantations. The growth rates of 25% Dorset x 75%Malin (DMalin) and 25% Dorset x 75% Siamese Long Tail (DSLT) sheep raised in 9, 13, 16 and 21 year-old oil palm plantations were evaluated. The measurements were taken by randomly sampling from the flock at birth, 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 months of age. The relationship between body weight and age was determined by Brody's model. Consequently, the growth models of sheep were 1) BW = 17.9715 (1-0.9113 exp(-0.0049*AGE)) forDMalin male, 2) BW = 17.7792 (1-0.9230 exp(-0.005*AGE)) for DMalin female, 3) BW = 21 (1-0.8778 exp(-0.0049*AGE)) for DSLT male and 4) BW= 18.7301 (1-0.8613 exp(-0.0059*AGE)) for DSLT female. The average daily gain of DMalin and DSLT sheep from birth to 10 months of age was 41.0 and 54.1 gm/head/ day, respectively. The males were slightly heavier than the females. Daily weight gains of sheep were related to thelimited grazing period and low quantity of herbage available in old oil palm plantations.

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