moghani sheep

The aim of the current study was to estimate inbreeding coefficient and Annual changes in Moghani sheep. In this research, records of 7278 lambs born from 387 rams and 2433 ewes were used. Data was collected from Jafarabad sheep breeding station in Moghan during 1995-2011. Estimating of inbreeding coefficient was done by CFC program. In total pedigree, 1019 animals were inbred. Averages of inbreeding coefficient for total and inbred population were estimated at 0.6 and 4.4 respectively. The highest inbreeding coefficient was 6.1 % and most inbred animals had inbreeding coefficients lower than 5 %. These results confirmed the low level of inbreeding in the population. Annual trend in inbreeding coefficient for total population were 0.0014±0.0006 and statistically significant (P<0.01). Annual trend in inbreeding coefficient for inbred population were -0.0047±0.0026 and not statistically significant. The regression of inbreeding for birth weight, weaning weight, 6 month weight, 9 month weight and 12 month weight traits were calculated +0.046, 5.16, 1.04, 0.07 and -6.95 gr respectively. Applying a designed mating system like crossbreeding and supervised using of elite rams could be a suitable method to avoid inbreeding depression via keeping the level of inbreeding under control.

Using horticultural and agricultural products such as almond hull is a useful way to compensate for feedstuff shortages and reduce environmental pollution. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of slow-release non-protein nitrogen replacement (Nitrosa) with urea in diets containing almond hulls on microbial protein production and nitrogen balance in sheep in order to provide an inexpensive non-forage fiber source with easily accessible nitrogen.

Materail and Methods:

This study was performed using four adult sheep weighing 49.33 ± 4.59 which were kept in metabolic cages were assigned in a 4×4 Latin square design in four 19-days periods. Feed intake and daily excretion of feces and urine were measured. Four rations were tested with the same raw protein and energy content, which contained 36% of the total crude protein content of non-protein nitrogen supplements. Only urea was used in the first treatment. In the second treatment, 24% of the crude protein required by urea and 12% by Nitrosa were provided. In the third treatment of urea and Nitrosa, respectively, 12 and 24%, and in the fourth treatment, Nitrosa was used only to provide 36% of the total crude protein needed in four periods. Each period included 14 days of habit and 5 days of measurements.

Allantoin showed a significant difference between treatments under the influence of experimental diets. So that treatment 3 had a significant difference with treatment 1 and 2, but did not differ with treatment 4. Also, treatment 2 had a significant difference with treatment 4 (p<0.05). Xanthine and hypoxanthine were not affected by diets (p>0.05). Uric acid, total purine derivatives excreted and all purine derivatives absorbed microbial nitrogen production, and microbial protein production under experimental diets showed a significant difference between treatments (p<0.05). The dry matter digestibility, crude protein, crude fat, and organic matter were not affected by the experimental syringes and there was no significant difference between the treatments (p>0.05). The digestibility of insoluble fiber in neutral detergent under the influence of experimental diets showed a significant difference between treatments (p<0.05). Treatment 4 had significant differences with treatment 1 and 3 and there was no difference between treatment 4 and 2.

Based on the results Using Nitrosa in diets containing almond hull as a low-cost non-forage fiber source also low-protein can be useful in improving the digestibility of fiber.

The objective of this study was estimate of the genetic and phenotypic trends of growth traits in Moghani sheep. In this study, a total of 21,423 records of growth traits belong to Moghani lambs that collected by raising and breeding of Moghani sheep station between 2003 and 2010, was used. The SAS 9.1 statistical software was used to evaluate the effect of environmental factors. Variance components and genetic parameters were estimated using restricted maximum procedure and univariate animal model and with wombat software. Animal breeding value of were estimated using the best univariate animal model. Environmental factors, like birth year, sex, herd, type of birth, and the age of mother are the significant factors as fixed effects. Estimation of direct genetic trend for birth weight, weaning weight, 6 month weight, 9 month weight and 12 month weight were as 6±1, 8±1.5, 8±6, 11±5 and 86±5 gr per year, respectively. The phenotypic trend for mentioned traits was estimated 30±1, 116±1, 37±6, -342±5 and -43±5 gr per year, respectively. The results showed that before designing any breeding program, optimum environmental condition must be prepared for appearance of maximum genetic potential, so phenotypic and genetic trends will be desirable in the herd.

The traits of economic importance such as body weight at different ages and growth rate in sheep are used as selection criteria in breeding programs. Growth can be defined either as an increase in the number of body cells or an increase in body weight and volume over a period of a lifetime. Animal growth curves can be described using various mathematical models. Growth curve components are heritable in different species. Therefore, the genetic potential of animals can be predicted for growth curve components. The best function describing the growth curve can vary depending on the breed and population under study. The aim of the present study was to investigate the ability of different nonlinear models to fit the growth curve of Moghani sheep and to estimate the genetic parameters of the growth curve characteristics in this breed.

In the current study, the data related to the body weights of Moghani sheep collected at the Moghani sheep breeding station in Jafarabad, Moghan, during the years 1989 – 2016 were used to investigate the growth curve and estimating the genetic parameters of the growth curve characteristics in this breed. Four nonlinear models including Brody, Logistic, Gompertz and von Bertalanffy were used to describe the growth curve of Moghani sheep. All models were fitted on the body weight records of animals at different ages using the NLIN procedure of SAS 9.0 software. The models used have three components including A (maturity weight), B (initial weight of animal) and K (maturity rate). Goodness-of-fit indices including coefficient of determination (R2), Root-Mean-Square Error (RMSE) and Akaike information criterion (AIC) were used to select the best model. After fitting the nonlinear models and selecting the best model, the components of the growth curve of individual animals were estimated using the best nonlinear model. Then, non-genetic factors affecting the growth curve components were investigated using the GLM procedure of SAS. Six univariate animal models that differed in terms of maternal permanent environmental effects and maternal genetic effect as well as covariance between direct and maternal genetic effects were used to analyze the traits. Also, three bivariate analyzes between growth curve components were performed to estimate the genetic correlation between traits.

According to our results, the logistic model with the lowest MSE and AIC and the highest R2 was the best model to describe the growth curve of Moghani sheep. The estimated values for the maturity weight (A), initial weight of animal (B) and maturity rate (K) by the logistic model were 40.328, 7.582 and 0.0270, respectively. The fixed effects of lamb sex, birth type, year and month of calving as well as dam age at calving had a significant effect on the components of the growth curve. Between the six fitted linear models, models number six, two and four were selected as the best models to analyze the components of maturity weight (A), initial weight of animal (B) and maturity rate (K), respectively. Direct heritability for maturity weight (A), initial weight of animal (B) and maturity rate (K) were estimated to 0.17, 0.08 and 0.19, respectively. Estimates of genetic correlation obtained from bivariate analysis between A-B, A-K and B-K were 0•06, 0•03 and −0•0003, respectively.

Among the four nonlinear models used, the logistic model had the best fit for the growth of Moghani sheep. According to the results of our study, the growth curve components of this breed had an acceptable heritability, so that these traits could be used in breeding programs to alter the growth curve and improve the growth pattern of animals in this breed.

In order to estimate the genetic parameters and heritabilities of growth traits and Kleiber ratios in Moghani sheep, data collected in Jafarabad-e-Moghan station from 1994 to 2016 were used. Investigated traits including birth weight, average daily gains and Kleiber ratios during four time periods that is birth to 3 months, 3 t 6 months, 6 to 9 months and 9 to 12 months first analyzed by SAS 9.2 software to indicate the significant fixed effects, finally, 6 animal models running by Wombat software was used to estimate the genetic parameters and heritabilities. The heritability of birth weight (0.31), Average daily gain and Kleiber ratio from birth to 3 months and from 3 to 6 months (0.34, 0.36, 0.40 and 0.38 respectively) were medium to high. The maternal heritabilities and the ratios of maternal permanent environmental variance to the total variance were in the range of 0 to 4 percent and 0 to 2 percent respectively. The genetic trend for birth weight, Average daily gains and Kleiber ratios during four time periods were 0.13, 0.21, 0.27, -0.0000014, 0.01, 0.01, -0.0002 and 0.00004 respectively. These results indicated the relative efficiency of breeding programs for the average daily gains and Kleiber ratios during birth to 3 months and 3 to 6 months in Moghani sheep.

Genetic parameters for birth weight and survival traits were estimated using data collected from 1995 to 2009 in Jafarabad Moghani Sheep Breeding Station. Number of observation for survival and birth weight were 7202 and 6585, respectively. Genetic parameters were estimated using restricted maximum likelihood (REML) procedure under 16 different models, including animal, threshold and sire models using ASReml software. The most appropriate model for each trait was determined based on Akaike’s Information Criterion (AIC) method. The appropriate model for birth weight was included direct additive genetic, maternal additive genetic and common litter effects. Also, the animal model for lamb survival were included direct additive genetic, maternal additive genetic, maternal permanent environmental, common litter effects and covariance between direct and maternal additive genetic effects. The appropriate sire model for lamb survival was included sire direct additive genetic and common litter effects. Estimated direct heritability for birth weight was 0.09±0.02. The direct heritabilities for survival with animal model and sire model was 0.070±0.002 and 0.05±0.02, which after correction was changed to 0.22 and 0.15, respectively. Also, the estimation of heritability for lamb survival from threshold model was 0.30±0.10. Genetic, environmental and phenotypic correlation between birth weight and lamb survival were 0.61±0.24, 0.08±0.02 and 0.07±0.01, respectively. Consideration of environmental factors, including common litter effects, is essential for unbiased estimation of genetic parameters.

Moghani sheep breed with 2.5 million numbers is one the most important meat breeds among fatty tail sheep. The main center for keeping this breed is Moghan plain, but there is in the regions like Meshkin Shahr, Sarab, Ardabil and the other provinces. Inbreeding also impairs growth, production, health, reproduction and survival of inbred animals. A complete pedigree is also necessary for an accurate evaluation of inbreeding and other important population parameters. This research was done for pedigree analysis, estimation of inbreeding coefficient and investigation of its effect on growth traits by regarding to importance of growth traits in economic benefit of sheep farming.

 Information of pedigree and growth traits (birth weight, weaning weight, 6 months weight, 9 months weight and 1 yearling weight) of available animals at breeding station of Moghani sheep were used for calculating of inbreeding and survey of its effects on growth traits of Moghani sheep. In this study, 16058 records of birth weight, 2145 weaning weight records, 2028 6 months weight records, 1319 records of 9 months weight and 1232 1 yearling weight records that were collected in 30 years (between 1987 to 2016) were used. For data preparation and editing and estimation of inbreeding coefficient Excel, Fox Pro and CFC soft wares were used respectively. For inbreeding effect analysis on related traits Wombat software and Restricted maximum likelihood method by using 12 animal models and considering of inbreeding in model as a covariate was used. The most appropriate model according to Akaike Criterion was selected. The statistical analysis of data was done by using of Duncan means test and GLM procedure of SAS 9.2 software.

 In this research 48.30 % of animals have known sire and dam. The number of records of studied growth traits with age increasing had downward trend that may cause to
elimination of some lambs or not registering of data in higher ages. For all of the traits, most of the animals had zero inbreeding coefficient, so that 83.31 % of population had zero inbreeding
coefficient. 13.50 % of all population that is equivalent with 80.89 % of inbred population had inbreeding coefficient less than 5 %. In studied population, only 3.19 % of all population that is equivalent by 19.11 % of inbred population had inbreeding coefficient more than 5 %. Generation interval in four pathway including sire-son, sire-daughter, dam-son and dam-daughter was
calculated 3.15 ± 0.053, 3.26 ± 0.093, 3.46 ± 0.015 and 3.57 ± 0.036 years respectively. Average generation interval of dam-progeny (3.51 ± 0.007 years) rather than sire-progeny (3.21 ± 0.064
years) was more. The shorter generation interval in sire-progeny pathway may be related to difference in replacement age of males and females. In other words, sooner replacement of males in
studied herd might be one of reasons for shorter generation interval in sire-progeny pathway. The average generation interval was estimated 3.36 ± 0.069 years. In all of traits, the non inbreds had more average compare with inbreeds. In this study, male lambs in all traits had more average compare with female lambs that showed effects of sex on growth traits of Moghani lambs. The
traits average of single lambs was more than twin lambs that may be related to more utilization of these lambs of maternal abilities. The results showed that 16.69 % of all population were inbred.
The average of total population inbreeding coefficient was estimated 0.58 % that was in reported results range for this breed in other researches. The average inbreeding coefficient in inbred
population and the highest inbreeding amount in herd was 3.47 and 44.67 % respectively. By evaluation of studied population form current generation to primary generation, decreasing trend in animals’ number was observed that may be related to a greater number of animals with known parents in current generation. The effective number of population was estimated 177.37. With
reducing of effective number in population, the amount of inbreeding will increase. The increasing amount of inbreeding was 0.047 % in each year that was not significant. The inbreeding trend in studied years was positive and ascending with low swings. Average equivalent complete generations as a scale of pedigree completeness estimated 1.60. The low amount of equivalent
complete generations can be related to incomplete and low depth of pedigree. The low effective number of population resulted in decreasing of genetic variation. Inbreeding depression for 1 % inbreeding for birth weight, weaning weight, 6 months weight, 9 months weight and 1 yearling weight were estimated 5.94, 19.03, 20.23, 35.26 and 38.74 gram that except 6 months weight and 1 yearling weight had not significant effect on the other traits. Having not a significant effect of inbreeding on birth weight, weaning weight and 9 months weight may cause to low level of inbreeding in herd and the low existence of dominance at controller genets of these traits. Regarding to the little effect of inbreeding depression on studied traits that is an optimal subject, it can be suggested by being low rate of inbreeding in this population, this trend persist in future years.

By regarding the significant effect of inbreeding on some growth traits and for
prevention of undesirable effects of inbreeding, it can be recommended an ongoing supervision be
done on related parameters to genetic variation at this population to Reduce the genetic diversity
caused by increased inbreeding.

In this study for prediction of the (Co)-variance components and genetic and phenotypic parameters for growth traits of Moghani sheep, data from birth weight (7368 records), weaning weight (5892 records), 6-month weight (5110 records), 9-month weight (2912 records) and yearling weight (2893 records) were used.  Data was collected during 1995-2017 from Moghani sheep breeding station in Jafarabad of Moghan. (Co) variance components and genetic parameters were estimated by Bayesian statistical method based on Gibbs sampling technique, because of high accuracy of bayasian method. Environmental factors such as birth year, birth season, Sex of lamb, birth type and mother's age were significant on all traits (P<0.01 and as fixed effects in the mode. Age of lamb during weaning was used as covariate in the model. Based on lowest AIC for birth weight, weaning weight, 6-month weight, 9-month weight and yearling weight the direct heritability was found to be 0.35±0.003, 0.20±0.004, 0.23±0.002, 0.36±0.004 and 0.24±0.003 for the traits, respectively. Maternal heritability of birth weight and weaning weight were 0.26±0.002 and 0.11 ±0.002, respectively. The results revealed by increasing lamb's age and reducing lamb's dependence on mother, the contribution of maternal effects to direct genetic effects decreases. Therefore, the importance of this effect was reduced by increasing age due to decreased dependenc if lamb to mother. Low to moderate heritability of the traits indicated that selection for these traits will result in a low to moderate genetic improvement.

Develop mentalists are often interested in understanding change processes; so, growth models are the most common analytical tools for examining such processes. Nonlinear growth curves are especially valuable to develop mentalists, because the defining characteristics of growth processes such as estimating initial levels, rates of changes during growth spurts, and asymptotic levels. A variety of growth models are described beginning with the linear growth model and moving to nonlinear models of varying complexity. A detailed discussion of nonlinear models is provided, highlighting the added insights into complex developmental processes associated with their use. Non-linear models can be an option to establish the mathematical behaviour of body development throughout the life of the Iranian sheep breed (Bahreini-Behzadi et al. 2010). These models require lower computational and faster convergence than other methods. Moreover, in genetic evaluation programs with large data sets, non-linear models are more advantageous. Non-linear models were analysed to describe both the biological and commercial growth curves of the Moghani sheep, one of the most important Iranian breeds. Growth models are mathematical functions which are applied for describing the growth pattern. Understanding, estimating, and capturing the defining characteristics of growth processes are key components of developmental research. The aim of this study was to estimate (co)variance components for growth curve parameters and investigate environmental effects on these parameters in Moghani sheep. Data on body weight were collected by Jafarabad sheep-breeding station during 1995 to 2011. The number of records used to estimate (co) variance components of growth curve parameters for birth weight, weaning weight, 6-month weight, 9-month weight, and yearling weight were 7278, 5881, 5013, 2819 and 2883, respectively. Environmental factor such as, age of dam at birth, sex of lambs, type of birth, birth year, and birth season were studied on parameters of growth pattern. The procedure of SAS software was used for studying of fix effects. Based on body weight at different ages and using different initial values, each of the growth curve parameters was estimated using SAS software version 9.1 and NLIN procedure. Growth curve parameters (mature weight, growth rate, and mature rate) were estimated using 4 nonlinear regression models (brody, gompertz, logestic, and bertalanfy). After fitting different models and obtaining growth parameters, the best fit function was selected based on the amount of correction coefficient and corrected Akaeic index and the parameters of the growth pattern were calculated based on the selected function for each animal. The function has the lowest value of the Akaeic index and the highest amount of explanation coefficient, selected as the best function. Estimation of (co)variance components of growth curve parameters was conducted using Bayesian approach implemented in MTGSAM software. The number of Gibbs sampling rounds used was 200,000 rounds. Ten percent of these numbers (20,000 rounds) was burn-in. The convergence criterion for stopping repetitions in this analysis was also considered as 10 decimals (10-10). Sampling intervals of 400 and Gouss Seidel 10000 repetitions were considered. In order to find the best model incorporating the constant and random effects affecting each of the parameters of the growth pattern, the following models, with and without regard to maternal effects including maternal additive genetic effects and permanent maternal environmental effects in the model (Meyer’s models) were tested. The Von Bertalonfy model presented the highest R2 and the lowest AIC compared with the other models and selected as the superior model. Environmental factors such as birth year, sex, and age of mother had significant effects on the mature weight (A) and growth rate (B). Fix effects of birth year and sex had significant effect on the mature rate (K), (P<0.01). Among the six linear models, according to minimum residual variance for mature weight model 4, for growth rate model 6, and for rate of maturity model 5 were selected. Using the most appropriate models in Bayesian approach, the direct heritability for curve parameters was 0.29±0.003, 0.35±0.004 and 0.21±0.004, respectively. The genetic correlation between all the growth curve parameters was positive and small and its value between A and B was 0.007, between both parameters A and k 0.001 and between B and k 0.009. The results obtained in this study contradicted the results of some researchers in this regard (Mollaei et al.2013). The difference in the estimates of different researches depends on the type of model used for analysis, the breed of sheep, and the structure of available information to estimate the parameters, the differences in the management of different herds and the application of different breeding programs (Bathaei and Leroy, 1998). According to the results, the effect of environmental factors on the parameters of the growth pattern is important and should be investigated in the analysis of these parameters.

The unavoidable mating of related animals in closed populations leads to accumulation of inbreeding and decreased genetic diversity. The loss of diversity and an increase in homozygosity may result in decreased productions and fitness of inbred animals. It is apparent that different breeds as well as different traits vary in their response to inbreeding (Mackinnon 2003). It is important to account for the effects of inbreeding in populations undergoing selection to properly adjust the breeding program for the potential reduction in performance. The objectives of this study were to estimate the inbreeding trend and inbreeding depression on growth traits of Iranian Moghani sheep. Pedigree records on the research flock of the Iranian Moghani sheep kept at the Jafarabad Breeding Station from 1990 to 2016 were used for analysis. The pedigree completeness index (PCI) proposed by MacCluer et al. (1983) was used to describe the degree of completeness of pedigree. In addition, for each individual, the number of complete generations equivalent (CGE) was computed as the sum of (1/2)n, where n is the number of generations separating the individual to each known ancestor (Maignel et al. 1996). Inbreeding coefficient for all animals were estimated using the method of Meuwissen and Luo (1992). Average inbreeding coefficients per year were computed and annual increases in inbreeding were estimated by linear regression over time. Individual increase in inbreeding coefficients (ΔFi) was calculated according to the methodology described by González-Recio et al. (2007) and modified by Gutiérrez et al. (2009) as ∆Fi = 1− √1−Fit i −1 , where Fi is the inbreeding coefficient of individual i and ti is the number of known equivalent generations for this individual. The analyzed traits for estimating inbreeding depression were birth weight (BW), 3-month weight (3MW), 6-month weight (6MW), 9-month weight (9MW), and yearling weight (YW). For estimating the inbreeding depression, only animals with PCI > 0.6 were kept in all analyses. All animals were grouped into three classes: first class included non-inbred animals (F=0); second class included animals with 0<F≤0.10, and third class included animals with F>0.10. Then inbreeding included in the model as the categorical fixed effects. Also, in a separate analysis, inbreeding and individual increase in inbreeding were included in the model as a linear covariate. Proportion of animals with F=0, 0<F≤0.10 and F>0.10 in all population were 78%, 21%, and 1%, respectively. These proportions in animals with PCI>0.6 were 23%, 74% and 3%, respectively. Average inbreeding of all and inbred indivduals within the animals with PCI>0.6 were 1.00% and 1.32%, respectively. The rate of inbreeding is more important than estimated level of inbreeding in genetic management of the population (Falconer and Mackay 1996; Bijma 2000). The evolution of the mean inbreeding, pedigree completeness index (PCI), and complete generations equivalent (CGE) of animals across years of birth are given in Figure 1. Trend of inbreeding was more coincident with PCI than CGE. Such a discrepancies in the behavior of two index of pedigree completeness could be attributed to the differences in the computation methods. From the linear regressions estimated, the rate of inbreeding was 0.03% (P < 0.01) per year equal to 0.12% per generation in the studied period. This estimated rate of inbreeding was less than the critical levels (1% per generation) recommended by FAO (1998) and Bijma (2000). The estimated rate of inbreeding for Moghani sheep in this study was similar to those reported by Hossein-zadeh (2012) and Gholambabaeian et al. (2012) for this breed. Also it was close to values reported for Iranian LoriBakhtiari, Sangsari and Zandi sheep (Almasi et al. 2014; Rashedi Dehsahraei et al. 2013; Sheikhlou et al. 2017). Nevertheless, it was less than the estimates for the Iranian Karakul, Iran-Black and Baluchi sheep (Bahri et al. 2015; Mokhtari et al., 2014; Tahmoorespur and Sheikhlou 2011). This differences in inbreeding rate could be attributed to the differences in the pedigree completeness of animals and also to the low proportion of matings between relatives and better control of inbreeding in Moghani sheep. Table 3 shows the least square means for body weight traits in different inbreeding classes of animals. The mean BW and 3MW of animals in the second class was lower than non-inbred animals (P<0.05). However, means of the BW and 3MW of animals in third class were higher than the second class. In other words, some of the heavy animals were between the highly inbred animals. Similar to our results, Prod’Homme and Lauvergne (1993) reported increased prolificacy with increasing inbreeding. They concluded that the positive effects of selection and improved management on prolificacy were larger than the negative effect of inbreeding. However, it should be kept in mind that the low proportion of animals in the third class of inbreeding in this study may also have contributed to these results. According to the Table 3, means of the 6MW, 9MW and YW have decreased with increasing in inbreeding, but the differences between inbreeding classes were not significant. The regression coefficients of BW, 3MW, 6MW, 9MW and YW on inbreeding were 0.006, -0.023, -0.051, -0.017 and -0.119 and on individual increase in inbreeding were 0.022, -0.044, -0.185, -0.111 and -0.326, respectively and were not significant (P>0.05). Converting individual increase in inbreeding coefficients to the equivalent inbreeding for an animal with an average depth of pedigree resulted in inbreeding depression of 6, -13, -55, -33, and -96 gram in BW, 3MW, 6MW, 9MW and YW, respectively. Considering the results obtained in this study, large proportion of animals in this flock with good pedigree completeness were inbred. Thus, implementation of methods to control inbreeding in this flock are suggested to achieve desired genetic gain with minimum loos of genetic diversity in the future. It seems that preweaning traits (BW and 3MW) is more affected by inbreeding rather than other growth traits in this breed. In this study the pattern of the changes in inbreeding depression due to using individual increase in inbreeding in the model were not the same across the different body weight traits.

As the resources are limited, improving efficiency of sheep farming is of high importance in Iran. In the present study, the technical efficiency of Moghani sheep flocks was investigated using the method of data envelopment analysis, considering constant (CRS) or variable (VRS) returns to scale. Data of year 2015 on inputs for the amount of concentrate, forage and labor as well as outputs including the amount of meat, milk, wool and fertilizer were collected from 214 Moghani sheep flocks through interviews and questionnaires. Data analysis was performed using Deap 2.1 software. The average technical efficiencies with CRS and VRS were 0.978 and 0.977, respectively, showing high efficiency in studied flocks. With CRS and VRS, there were 14 and 25 flocks being technically efficient, respectively, and could be introduced as reference flocks to inefficient ones. The results showed that with VRS, some reduction in flock size, labor, forage, concentrate, rangelands roughages and health costs as 2.99, 2.99, 2.63, 2.79, 2.73 and 6.41 percent, respectively, would let inefficient flocks to become efficient, while maintaining the same level of previous production. The estimates of return to scale showed that most of Moghani sheep flocks had an increasing return to scale, and are able to benefit from scale-based savings and lowered cost per output unit.

Improving animal performance should be sustainable and economically profitable, therefore economic selection indices have been used in most breeding programmes for livestock. For this purpose, economic weighting factors have to be estimated for all traits in the breeding objective.The best way to maximize profitability through genetic improvement is to use economic weights of the trait Involved. In this study, to estimate the economic values of production and reproduction traits, Costs, revenues and profit analysis in nomadic systems, determine the breeding objective for Moghani sheep. The human population is growing fast which it seems that in spite of the recent progresses in new issues and technologies, they are not enough to fulfill feed requirements of humankind. Planning a suitable breeding system would be an important practical method in using the production potential of local sheep flocks. Therefore, it is essential to estimate economic values of production traits in a one or multivariate selection scheme to evaluate the priority in-comes and costs of a breeding system. A bio-economic model was used to describe performance, revenues and costs and to calculate the economic values, economic values are determined from these models by simulating changes in the genetic level of a trait and noting the associated changes in overall economic outcome. As a first step in developing such a programme a suitable breeding goal for the cattle population has to be defined, giving emphasis to production as well as to functional traits in order to achieve a more sustainable production. For a sustainable production, traits that have been identified as important for selection are also functional traits. The economic value of a trait is defined as the increase in profit resulting from a unit genetic improvement in that trait, while all other traits in the breeding objective are kept constant in simple terms economic values are defined as the effect on the efficiency of production of a marginal unit increase in a trait, independent of changes in other traits. Economic efficiency of the production system was calculated as the difference between total revenues and total costs per cow and year at the stationary herd structure.
In this study, production, reproduction, management and economic parameters resulted from recording of 5 flocks with 500 head of breeding ewes during annual cycle of production (August 2015 to August 2016) in extensive rearing system were used to determine the breeding objective and relative economic values.Traits included; fertility, pregnancy rate, weight lambs from birth to the end of period, survival rate of lambs, wool production weight, average daily gain and milk production. A bioeconomic model was written for rearing system and flock information, economic values using maximum profit orientation was calculated by partial derivative of the profit function by the MATLAB software. To calculate economic values, change in system profit per unit change in the trait while was kept the other characters in the average, and was considered the average change in profit as an economic value. To calculate the relative economic values, the absolute economic value of each trait divided by the absolute economic value of weight of wool.First all costs, revenues, profits and flock structure determined then intered input files and run the software.
Economic analysis of system indicated that, costs, revenue, and profit per ewe per year were 9437617.88, 10637654.49, and 1200036.61 Rials, respectively.The results showed that live weight, milk yield, manure and wool yield accounted for 86.36 %, 9.64 %, 2.85 and 1.15% of total revenue, respectively. Feeding and management costs (variable costs) represented 73.65% and 26.35 % of total cost, respectively. The relative economic values for Carcass yield, Lamb live weight at 12-month , ewe survival, Post-weaning lamb survival, Pre-weaning lamb survival, Lamb live weight at 4-month, birth weight, conception rates ewes, , little size, Lambing frequency per year, Average daily gain yearlings, Wool weight, Milk yield of ewe, Average daily gain lambs, Replacement female weight, Adult weight of ewes were7.30,4.27, 3.08,2.85,2.44,2.35,2.01,1.85,1.54, 1.42, 1.05,1, 0.55, 0.34,- 0.06, and ( -1.81) respectively.
Breeding objective in Moghani sheep breed were Carcass yield, Lamb live weight at 12-month, ewe survival, Post-weaning lamb survival, Pre-weaning lamb survival, Lamb live weight at 4-month, birth weight, conception rates ewes, little size, Lambing frequency per year, Average daily gain yearlings, wool weight, Milk yield of ewe, Average daily gain lambs, Replacement female weight and Adult weight of ewes respectively.

In this research, records of growth traits of Moghani sheep breed collected during1996 to 2011 in Moghan breeding station, Ardabil were used for genetic analysis. Variance components and genetic parameters were determined for each trait using Maximum Likelihood procedures and six various animal models using WOMBAT software. The traits were birth weight (BW: 7028 records), weaning weight (WW: 5695 records), weight at age 6 months (6MW: 4954 records), weight at age 9 months (9MW: 2322 records), yearling weight (YW: 1872 records), average daily gain and Kleiber ratio in four time from birth to weaning (ADG1 & KR1), average daily gain and Kleiber ratio was from weaning to age 6 (ADG2 & KR2), average daily gain and Kleiber ratio from age 6 to age 9 (ADG3 & KR3), and average daily gain and Kleiber ratio from age 9 to 12 (ADG4&KR4). Pedigree structure was analyzed by CFC software. Classified effects included in the model were gender, type of birth, birth mount and birth year and age of dams (as covariate effect). Based on six models, the effect of direct genetic, maternal effect, the effect of maternal permanent environment, the direct additive genetic covariance, maternal and residual effect were estimated. The most suitable model for each trait was determined based on Akaike information criterion (AIC) test. The heritability estimates were 0.007, 0.024, 0.009, 0.181, 0.076, 0.021, 0.120, 0.018, 0.062, 0.082, 0.230, 0.017 and 0.056 for BW, WW, 6MW, 9MW, YW, ADG1, ADG2, ADG3, ADG4, KR1, KR2, KR3, and KR4, respectively. Genetics trends of the traits were -0.00014, 0.00213, 0.00054, 0.0345, 0.0058, 0.0184, -0.0244, 0.0338, 0.0249, 0.0009, - 0.0055, 0.002 and 0.0009, respectively. The results of this study showed that, except for 9MW trait with single trait analysis method, no particular genetic trend was found for the other traits over the 15 years.

In order to estimate genetic parameters of body weight trait using random regression model 19388 test day records from 6013 Moghani sheep which were collected at Moghan Research Station located in Ardebil province, Iran, during 1995 to 2009 were used. In the model, year-season, birth year-season, sex of lamb, birth type and dam parity were classified as fixed effects and age of dam at parturition and age of animal were as covariates. Random effects of model were direct additive genetic effect, maternal additive genetic effect, direct permanent environmental effect and residual effect. Model 9 with 2nd order of fit for genetic effects and 4th order of fit for permanent environmental effect and 21 parameters was considered as the most appropriate model. Direct heritability estimated for weight at birth, 90, 180, 270 and 360 days were 0.069, 0.002, 0.005, 0.013 and 0.021, respectively. Results showed that direct heritability reduced after birth and reached to the lowest amount at 90 days of age, but after that increased as the age increased. Maternal heritability had considerable reduction after birth and then increased to 360 days. Weights at 270 and 360 days had the highest correlation. Commonly genetic and phenotypic correlations reduced as the age increased.

Fifty Moghani male lambs with mean body weight of 28±1.9 kg were investigated in a completely randomized design for 98 days to assess the effect of replacing corn silage (CS) by amaranth silage (AS) on weight gain, rumen fermentation and blood parameters. Five iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous diets, in which CS replaced by different levels of AS (0, 75, 150, 225, or 300 g/kg of diet DM), were formulated to meet animal requirements. The diets were offered ad libitum and twice daily as total mixed rations. Dietary replacement of CS by AS, increased the daily feed intake, weight gain and molar proportion of butyrate, but diminished the ruminal proportion of iso-valerate, and blood content of triglycerides (P<0.05). The molar proportion of acetate, propionate, iso-butyrate, valerate and pH of the rumen, and plasma levels of the glucose, total protein, albumin, creatinine, Ca, P, Mg, Na, K and Cl were similar among the experimental treatments. Overall, replacement of CS by AS up to 300 g/kg of dietary DM in diet of fattening Moghani lambs were possible, without negative effect on animal growth and blood parameters.

In this study 103 ewes belonged to the sheep station in Ardabil, Jafarabad were selected for wool sampling. Image analysis method was used to measure the fiber diameter, coefficient of variation of diameter of fibers, medulated fibres percentage and kemp fibres percentage. The environmental factors including the year of birth, type of birth and age of ewes were considered as fixed effects in statistical analysis with GLM procedure of SAS software. Results showed that the effect of year of birth had a significant effect on the characteristics of fiber diameter (P<0.05). Characteristics of mean fiber diameter (micro-meter), coefficient of variation (%), medulated and kemp fibre percentage were 30.9 ±3.11, 36.14 ±5.81, 11.6 ±2.66 and 5.28 ±2.16, respectively. In the measured samples, coefficient of variation and percentage of kemp fibres were high, so it is necessary that breeding programs planned to improve these traits in Moghani sheep. Image analysis can be considered as an easy technique for measurement of most important traits in sheep breeding programs for fiber traits.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of diet and fattening start weight on body growth in the different stages of the fattening periods and carcass compositions of Moghani male lambs. For this purpose, 36 heads of Moghani male lambs with three weights classes (Light, medium and heavy weight) were used with two diets (alfalfa to concentrate ratio of 70 to 30 (diet 1) and 30 to 70 (diet 2)) were fattening up to the time which their weights were 55 kg. The lambs were placed in individual cages for control the amount of feed daily intake and residual collected. The diets of high concentrate compared with diet of high forage were more favorable effect on body weight during the fattening at all stages and also daily weight gain (P<0.05). The significant difference was between heavy weight lambs (112 g/day) with light weight lambs (153 g/day) on daily weight gain (P<0.05). The diet had significant effect on carcass efficiency, hot and cold carcass weight, fat-tail weight and liver weight (P<0.05) and also percentage of fat-tail weight to carcass weight ratio (P<0.05). Negative correlation existed between fat-tail weight with different component of the carcass, especially with its valuable parts (leg, sirloin, breast and shoulder). Generally, high concentrate intake caused increase of fat-tail stores. Fattening with low weight increased daily weight gain, but in higher age was associated with fat stores in Moghani male lambs.

Thirty-six Moghani ewes with a history of two parities, weighing 55±5 kg were allocated in 3 groups (n=12) to investigate the impact of flaxseed and soybeans grains in the complementary randomized design on the ewes metabolites and hormones in blood, and their reproductive performance through a period of the 35 days. The experimental treatments were: 1- Flaxseed (F) (5% of total ration dry matter), 2-Soybean (S) (5% of total ration dry matter) and 3- Control (C) (without seed oil) respectively. Isonitrogenous (9% CP) and isocaloric (3.6 Mcal/kg) experimental diets were used. Body condition score of ewes at the beginning of experiment were 2.5 and reached to about 3 at the breeding time. Ewe's estrus was synchronized using CIDR 14 days before mating. 24 hours after CIDR removal, ewes were mated randomly with 5 rams of the station in the first of June. The usage of oilseeds improved fertility and lambing rate (P<0.05). Glucose, cholesterol, insulin and estrogen hormones levels of serum were higher in experimental diets containing flaxseed and soybean seeds than the control group (P<0.01).

To estimate genetic and phenotypic trends of growth traits a data set collected from 1995 to 2008 by the Moghani breeding station were used. (Co) variance components for traits were estimated by derivative free restricted maximum likelihood (DFREML) and breeding values of animals were predicted with Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP) methodology under multi-trait animal models and then genetic trend estimated on based the most appropriate model. Genetic and phenotypic trends of studied traits were estimated regression mean of breeding value and phenotypic on birth year. Direct genetic and phenotypic trends for birth weight(BW), weaning weight(WW), 6- month weight(6MW), average daily gain birth to weaning(ADG0-3), average daily gain weaning to 6- month (ADG3-6), kleiber ratio from birth to weaning (KR0-3) and kleiber ratio from weaning to 6 month (KR3-6) were estimated 2 and 31; 36 and 528; 43 and; 0.617 and 4.258; 0.223 and 0.144; 0.016 and 0.165 and 0.007 and -0.235 gr per year, respectively. Total genetic progress of 14 years for BW, WW and 6MW were 38, 401 and 578 gr and 65.541, 2.697, 2.497 and 0.090 for ADGa, ADGb, KRa and KRb, respectively.