MILK YIELD RESPONSES TO SHEARING IN BULGARIAN FINE WOOL BREED OF SHEEP
Yordan Aleksiev
Institute of Mountain Stockbreeding and Agriculture,
281 V. Levski Str, 5600 Troyan, Bulgaria
yordan_aleksiev@yahoo.com
Milk yield (MY) response to winter shearing was studied in 12 Bulgarian fine wool sheep kept in an open shed. Ewes were divided into two groups, of six sheep each, according to their daily milk production: a high level group (HL) and a low level group (LL), and were shorn in February. Ewes were fed a ration of chopped hay administered ad libitum and concentrate and were hand milked twice daily at approximately 8:00 h and 16:00 h. Shearing at minimum ambient temperatures below the freezing point brought about a sharp decrease (P < 0.001) in daily MY in the HL ewes and a negligible drop (P > 0.05) in LL sheep compared to the pre-shearing levels. Average for the week after shearing mean daily MY in HL and LL sheep dropped by 28.7 % and 5.6 %, respectively, compared to unshorn ewes. The observed reduction in daily MY mainly was at the expense of morning yield, whereas the afternoon one remained almost unchanged throughout the study. The results suggest that shearing affects the level of production altering the capacity for homeorhetic regulation of nutrient partitioning.
Keywords: sheep; winter shearing; milk yield
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