This study was conducted to investigate the possibilities of developing terminal male and female lines for lamb production by the crossing of native breeds, that is, Akkaraman, Sakız (Chios) and Kıvırcık breeds. The Akkaraman sheep is a fattailed breed raised in central Anatolia, while Sakız and Kıvırcık sheep aren non fattailed breeds raised in western and northern-western Anatolia. The Birth rate of Akkaraman x Akkaraman (AA), Sakız x Akkaraman (SA) and Kıvırcık x Akkaraman (KA) breeding groups were generally found as follows: 94.0, 78.6 and 74.0% in 1996; and 93.3, 90.8 and 85.0% in 1997, respectively. The survival rate of AA, SA F1 and KA F1 lambs from birth to weaning (90-days) were 89.5, 92.9 and 87.1%, respectively. Least squares means obtained for AA, SA F1 and KA F1 lambs were 4.71, 4.71 and 4.69 kg for birth weight; 23.69, 22.89, 21.84 kg for weaning weight; 36.02, 34.96 and 34.25 kg for 180-day weight; and 50.99, 36.41 and 29.84 cm for the widest circumference of tail at 180 days, respectively. The results of this study show that adaptation of SA F1 and KA F1 crossbred lambs in Central Anatolian conditions was high and that crossbred genotypes had a promising performance with respect to developing terminal male and female lines for lamb production.

This study was conducted to investigate the possibilities of developing terminal male and female lines for lamb production by the crossing of native breeds, that is, Akkaraman, Sakız (Chios) and Kıvırcık breeds. The Akkaraman sheep is a fattailed breed raised in central Anatolia, while Sakız and Kıvırcık sheep aren non fattailed breeds raised in western and northern-western Anatolia. The Birth rate of Akkaraman x Akkaraman (AA), Sakız x Akkaraman (SA) and Kıvırcık x Akkaraman (KA) breeding groups were generally found as follows: 94.0, 78.6 and 74.0% in 1996; and 93.3, 90.8 and 85.0% in 1997, respectively. The survival rate of AA, SA F1 and KA F1 lambs from birth to weaning (90-days) were 89.5, 92.9 and 87.1%, respectively. Least squares means obtained for AA, SA F1 and KA F1 lambs were 4.71, 4.71 and 4.69 kg for birth weight; 23.69, 22.89, 21.84 kg for weaning weight; 36.02, 34.96 and 34.25 kg for 180-day weight; and 50.99, 36.41 and 29.84 cm for the widest circumference of tail at 180 days, respectively. The results of this study show that adaptation of SA F1 and KA F1 crossbred lambs in Central Anatolian conditions was high and that crossbred genotypes had a promising performance with respect to developing terminal male and female lines for lamb production.