Д. В. Николаев Sheep farming occupies an important place in the livestock sector of Russia. Due to the low maintenance and feeding requirements of sheep, as well as the potential for producing a wide variety of products, this industry plays a significant role in ensuring the country’s food security. The issue of national food security is a crucial task, the solution of which is directly linked to increasing domestic production of livestock products, particularly meat, including mutton. One effective way to increase mutton production is to expand the use of specialised meat breeds, including foreign-bred Dorper rams. The research was conducted on purebred Edilbaev rams and their peers with different blood fractions: half-bred (½ Edilbaev and ½ Dorper) and one-quarter-bred (¼ Edilbaev and ¾ Dorper). The study examined the effect of crossbreeding Edilbaev ewes with Dorper rams at varying blood fractions on the growth and development of young animals. First-generation crossbreds (with a proportion of Dorper blood) significantly outperformed their purebred Edilbaev counterparts in weight, growth rate, and slaughter performance at all stages of the study. However, as the proportion of Dorper blood increased in crossbreeds, the positive heterosis effect weakened.
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