Katahdi Hair Sheep at El Zamorao. INTRODUCTION Miguel Vclez N. * I 1982 the Ecuela Agrícola Paamericaa received 23 ewe ad three ram of the Katahdi breed. Thi breed wa developed by M. Piel i the tate of Maie from a cro betwee Virgi Ilad hair heep, ad Suffolk ad Wilthire Hor wool heep. It ha bee elected for rapid growth rate, good coformatio ad fertility, ad abece of wool ad hor (Maó, 1980). The aimái have adapted well to coditio at El Zamorao: 14 North, 800 m above ea level, 1200 mm of rai i ix moth (May through October), average miimum ad máximum temperature of 15 C ad 32 C i Jauary ad April repectively. I the raiy eao the heep are grazed from 0630 util 1600 hour ad peed at ight due to the rik of predator (tray dog, coyote) ad tealig. Durig the dry eao they are pe-fed hay (Cvodo k'fíifuctiij, maize ilage, molae, ad poultry maure. I order to icreae the herd ize rapidly, the ewe have bee bred the year aroud. FKKTILITY RESULTS The average umber of lamb bor i 152 lambig at El Zamorao wa 1.34. Thi average i rather low coiderig that prolificacy wa oe of the criteria for electio i the etablihmet of the breed. At leat partially, thi ca be attributed to the high proportio of youg ewe i the herd. Mature * Departmet of Aimal Sciece, Ecuela Agrícola Paamericaa, Apartado 93, Tegucigalpa, Hodura. 300
1985 VELEZ: KATAHDIN HAIR SHEEP 301 ewe how a higher rate of múltiple birth a ca be ee i Table 1. I thi table the lambig of thoe ewe which had lambed i the U.S.A. prior to their hipmet are icluded. The overall ex ratio of the 207 lamb bor wa 45o/o male to 55o/o female. The ex ratio amog the igle wa 46.80/0 male, ad amog the múltiple birth it wa 43.2o/o male. Table 1. Lamb per lambig accordig to parturitio. Parturitio Number of lambig with Sigle Twi Triplet Average lamb per lambig Firt 56 16 1.22 Secod 21 19 1.48 Third ad more 21 18 1 1.50 PARTURITION INTERVAL AND SEUAL BEHAVIOR The aimái have ot how eaoality i their exual behavior ad lambig have occurred i all moth. The parturitio iterval i thoe ewe lambig twice or more ( = 57) i 263 + 54 day. Thi give a average of 1.39 lambig per year. BIRTH WEIGHT AND GROWTH RATE The average birth weight by ex ad type of birth i give i Table 2. A expected, male are heavier tha female lamb, ad igle-bor are heavier tha thoe bor a twi or triplet. The average daily weight gai durig the firt 100 day wa 151 ± 36 gram; the reult by ex ad type of birth are give i Table 3.
302 CEÍM Volume 2j> Table 2. líirth \\cight by ex ad íype of birth (iii kg). Sigle Múltiple Male (a) 30 3.7 0.5 24 3.3 0.6 Female (b) 42 3.5 0.4 30 3.1 0.4 a) dit'í'erece betwee male ad female igificat to P = 0.05 b) differece betwee male ad female igificat to P = 0.001 Table 3. Daily weight gai (i gram) betwee birth ad 100 day. Sigle Múltiple Male 18 168 37 9 130 29 Female 19 147 27 15 147 41 DISCUSSION The reult obtaied thu far idícate that heep productio i viable i the emi-humid eviromet of El Zamorao, ad it i worth coiderig a a alterative to beef productio i thoe área i which cattle productio i margial. The productivity of the beef cattle idutry i Hodura i low, a i idicated by the average carca weight of 143 kg ad the extractio rate oí' 16o/o per year. Variou reao have bee motioed for thi (Secretaria de Recuro Naturale, 1984) ad they iclude the followig: a deficiet productio techology (feedig, breedig, health-care, maagemet) caued by poor atural coditio ad/or limited ivetmet, a i the cae i the hilly área of cetral ad outher Hodura with 6 to 7 moth of drought; or becaue the farmer are uaware of or do ot have the reource to implemet better techologie, a ca be aumed for iot mall farmer which cotitute the bulk of the cattle ower (Table 4).
1985 VELEZ: KATAHDIN HAIR SHEEP 3Q3 Table 4. Pattcr of cattle (verhip i Hodura. Head/Holdig Percet of holdig Percet of total cattle le tha 10 10-29 30-99 more tha 99 44.1 32.4 18.3 5.2 7.1 18.6 20.9 53.4 I the dry área cattle reach laughter weight at the age of 3 to 4 year, ice a good part of the weight gaied durig the raiy eao i lot i the followig dry eao. Prelimiary reult from El Zamorao how that the ue of ilage, hay or gree fodder grow o irrigated lad, may ot be ecoomical. Uder the ame climatic coditio heep could be bred at the ed of the raiy eao, or begiig of the dry oe, i order to have lamb at the iitiatio of the followig rai. Surplu lamb could the be laughtered at the ed of the ame ruiy period with a weight of 25 to 30 kg; thi would reduce the umber of aimái which would have to be carried through the dry eao to the breedig herd. Sice the ewe would be pregat, uppíemetal feedig durig the dry eao would be required, but thi i aío the cae with a breedig herd of beef cattle if the preet low fertility rate of le tha fifty percet (Salazar, per. comm.) i to be icreaed. Furthermore, heep how ome capacity for browig, though ot a developed a that of goat (Table 5). Thory legume, of the geera Mimoa ad Acacia, are coimo weed i the pature of the dry zoe of Hodura, ad they are ot eate by cattle. Leave of Mimoa te uil lora i the dry eao have a crude protei coteí of 14 to 15o o ad a etimated digetibility of above 70 percet. A thi hrub remai gree ad eve grow to ome extet durig the dry eao, aimái browig o it ca obtai ome protei which allow for a much better utilizatio of the dry-gra remaet from the raiy eao. Properly maaged, thi fact houíd permit a igifica! reductio the amout of uppíemetal feedig eeded durig the drv eao.
304 CHIBA Volume 26 Tablc 5. Comparalivc behaviour of heep atl goat gra/.ig o a j>uddock \\ilhjaragua gra (Ilyparrlicia rufa) ad Carbó hrub (Mi mu a te uiflora) at El Zamorao. Specie Percetage of time pet Grazig Browig Other heep goat 53.9 23.6 23.6 56.5 22.5 19.9 1) Average of four goat ad four heep oberved durig five moth, every 7th day, for eight hour at te-miute iterval. Source: Sataa. 1984. LITERATURE CITED MASÓN, I. L. 1980. Raza prolifica de ovio tropicale. FAO, Roma. SANTANA, P. 1984. Dearrollo del carbó (Mimoa teuiflora) \l comportamieto alimeticio de cabra y oveja. Mimeo, El Zamorao. SECRETARIA DE RECURSOS NATURALES. 1984. Diagótico de la gaaderi'a de Hodura. Tegucigalpa.