Effects of environmental factors on growth traits in Makuie sheep.

The Makuie sheep is a fat-tailed sheep breed which can be found in the Azerbaijan province of Iran. non- genetic parameters obtained from data collected from 1993 to 2012 Makuie sheep research station of West Azerbaijan province in Iran were evaluated in the present study. The non- genetic parameters for birth weight, weaning weight (3 months), 6-month, 9-month and yearling weight traits were estimated based on 19 years of data using SAS software. Least squares means were 4.11± 0.88, 21.50±3.50, 27.18±3.53, 28.57±4.44 and 34.21±3.88 kg for weight at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 month, respectively. The birth year had a significant effect on all traits while the effect of birth type significantly affected all traits (p<0.05). The lamb's sex had a significant effect on all traits (p<0.05). The effect of dam's age had a significant effect on all traits except 9- month (p<0.05). Results showed that non- genetic factors have an important role in expressing of genetic potential in the lambs.