Improving the Local Sheep in Gansu via Crossing with Introduced Sheep Breeds Dorset and Borderdale

In order to improve the meat performance of local sheep in Gansu Province,Dorset and Borderdale were introduced to crossbreed with local sheep which were Tan sheep,Small-tail Han sheep and Mongolia sheep. The offspring under different crossbreeding combinations were sampled randomly at the different growing stage to measure their growth traits so as to select optimize the crossbreeding mode. The results indicated that,for the same crossbreeding mode,the growth rate of progeny was in order F3> F2> F1; for the F3 progeny,the combinations Dorset- Borderdale- Small tail Han sheep and Dorset- Borderdale- Mongolia sheep gave a higher growth rate,with a body weight of 1. 57%,3. 17%,8. 23%,1. 15% higher in male and female individuals than the counterparts of Dorset and Tan sheep and Small tail Han sheep; for the F2 progeny,the combinations Dorset- Borderdale- Small tail Han sheep and Dorset- Borderdale- Mongolia sheep also gave a higher growth rate,with a body weight of 2. 15%,4. 53%,9. 21% and 2. 75% higher in male and female individuals than the counterparts of Dorset and Tan sheep and Small tail Han sheep; for the F1 progeny,the combination Borderdale and Small tail Han sheep assumed a higher growth rate,with a body weight of 3. 23%,6. 07%,7. 42% and 8. 66% higher in male and female individuals than the counterparts of Borderdale- Mongolia sheep and Tan sheep- Small tail Han sheep,respectively. Therefore,in the Small-tail Han sheep and Mongolia sheep producing regions,the F2 or F3progeny bred by using Dorset or Borderdale sheep as male parent to cross with local breeds,or the hybrid lambs of Small-tail Han sheep and Borderdale sheep as highly qualified commodity,would produce significant economic benefit. Moreover,the novel breeds obtained by crossing were the valuable genetic resource for breeding meat sheep.