Effet de la saison d’agnelage sur la mortalité des agneaux chez les races ovines Ouled Djellal et Taâdmit élevées dans le nord est d’Algérie

Abstract

The objective of this work was to evaluate the mortality rates of Ouled Djellal and

Taâdmit lambs reared in the same breeding conditions. The study was conducted

in the region of Souk Ahras, Northeast part of Algeria -36° 14' north latitude, 10°

7' east longitude-. It involved 252 births which occurred between October and

February, 191 lambs were offspring of Ouled Djellal ewes and 61 lambs were

from Taâdmit ewes. Thus, all the ewes were coupled by Ouled Djellal rams. The

animals were housed en sheepfold and their diet was based on seasonal forage,

supplemented by barley grain. The lambing has occurred between 07 October and

28 February for Ouled Djellal and 08 October and 28 February for Taâdmit breeds.

For this purpose, were recorded birth day, the number of ewes, litter size, sex and

birth weight of lambs. Similarly, all the mortalities which occurred at birth and

between birth and at the age of 3 months were noted. Lamb mortality was

satisfactory, although not significantly, in the Ouled Djellal breed group, both

during the first week (4.19 vs 11.48 %) and during the three months of age (5.76

vs 14.75 %) (P > 0.05).