Productivity of Lipa sheep in central Serbia

Abstract

The area of central Serbia is very suitable area for small ruminant production, due to it’s hilly-mountainous region, rich in pastures, and free from heavy use of pesticides, which make it great for organic production. In the territory of central Serbia, representative of autochthonous (indigenous) sheep breeds is pramenka (zackel) with its differentiated strains: Sjenica strain, Svrljig strain, Krivovir strain, Karakachan strain, Pirot strain, Lipa strain and Bardoka (White Metohian strain). Aim of this study was to investigate Lipa strain: number of controlled heads, their productivity parameters and milk parameters. Observed data were processed using the statistical package Statistica for Windows (Stat. Soft Inc.), whereby the basic parameters of descriptive statistics (arithmetic mean, variation coefficient, standard deviation and standard error) were calculated. In this study, total of 840 adult animals were observed. Average observed body weight (BW) of lambs were: BW on birth 3.56 kg, BW after 30 days 12.72 kg and BW on weaning 27.14 kg, while BW of adult sheep was 66.18 kg. Fertility index was 1.31 and average wool production was 3.24 kg. Average lactation lasted for 125 days, with milk production of 102.16 kg, 5.74% protein and 7.12% milk fat. Indigenous breeds are irreplaceable in sustainable systems because they are evolutionary adapted to the conditions in which they are reared. Lipa strain is one of them and due to it’s productions in humble conditions it is one of the key for sustainable sheep production.