Growth Performance of Blackhead Pleven Lambs during the Suckling Period

The aim of the present study was to analyze the live weight, body length, and chest perimeter in Blackhead Pleven lambs at an early age with a view to their future use as prognostic indicators of growth performance. The study was conducted with 46 lambs. It found out that at birth and weaning the singletons had higher live weight and higher average daily weight gain in comparison with the twins (P<0.01). Body length and chest perimeter at birth were higher in the singletons lambs (P<0.01). The type of birth influenced signifi-cantly (P<0.01) on the live weight (η2=26.85%), live weight (η2=21.39%) and the chest perimeter (η2=27.08%) of the lambs at birth. At 26 days of age i.e. at weaning, only the live weight was influenced by the birth type (η2=27.53%, P<0.01). The chest perimeter of lambs at weaning was not influenced by the body length at birth and at weaning. There was a moderate to strong phenotypic correlation among the other studied parameters.