Experience with use of Booroola sheep in Poland

摘要

The introduction of Booroola sheep (B) to Poland was aimed at improving reproduction performance in the Polish sheep population without compromising wool production. In 1988, 121 B embryos were imported into Poland from New Zealand (Klewiec et al. 1991). All embryos were the progeny of two sires and eight dams, some of which were related. Following the embryo transfer, 31 ram lambs and 29 ewe lambs were born. The certificates provided by the New Zealand Booroola Sheep Society indicated that all embryos were homozygous carriers of a single Fec~B gene (Klewiec et al. 1991). The average ovulation rate (OR) observed over 5 years in purebred B ewes was 4.25 (SD = 1.23), ranging from 2 to 8 (Klewiec and Gabryszuk 1998). However, among 28 B females, 9 did not record an OR of 5 or more during at least three laparoscopic observations. The average prolificacy observed in up to five lambings was 228%, with the largest litters consisting of five lambs.