Sheep have the potential for
multiple births, especially in farm flocks. Therefore, select twins for
replacements when possible. With good management, mortality of twins should not
be much higher than that of singles.
Measures of reproductive
efficiency include age at puberty, fertility, lambing rate, and length of
breeding season. #Reproduction in sheep is strongly influenced by environment.
By most estimates, the heritability of reproductive rate is low, but breed
differences exist.
#Fine-wool breeds are highly fertile and have been used
successfully in crossbreeding programs to improve reproductive rate. Breeds
that have been used under intensive management systems to increase lambing rate
include the Finnish Landrace, Border Leicester, and Suffolk.
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