The comparison of some reproduction traits and lambs growth performance of ex situ and in situ conserved Kivircik sheep

Abstract The objective of this study is to compare the reproductive performance of the ewes, the lambs’ growth characteristics, and the variable costs in the sheep enterprises for ex situ and in situ conserved Kivircik sheep flocks. In total, 1841 ewes were included in the study. The ex situ Kivircik sheep flock had 929 ewes and the in situ Kivircik sheep flock had 912 ewes and their l864 lambs were born in the months of January and February from 2007 to 2011. The lambing rates of the in situ and the ex situ flocks were 83.9% and 74.7% ( P in situ and the ex situ flocks was 1.1 and 1.0 lambs ( P P  > 0.05). The least squares means of the birth weight, the weaning weight at the 90th day of the lambs, and the post-weaning daily live weight gain of the in situ and ex situ conserved lambs were 4.2 and 3.7 kg ( P P P  > 0.05), respectively. The average mean survival rate of the in situ and the ex situ conserved lambs were 96.2% and 90.0%, respectively, and differences were significant ( P ex situ sheep enterprises, proportional profit was 0.62, in other words, each 100€ expense corresponds to a loss of 38€. However, for the in situ sheep enterprise, this ratio was 1.17, meaning that each 100€ expense corresponds to a profit of 17€. The present study demonstrated that the in situ conserved Kivircik sheep had higher growth performance, higher lamb survival rate and was more profitable than the ex situ conserved Kivircik sheep.