Zaenab Nurul Jannah, Panjono Panjono, Amir Husaini Karim Amrullah, Bayu Andri Atmoko, Siti Aslimah, Adi Tiya Warman, Mohammad Firdaus Hudaya, Besse Tenri Nurul Hikmah, Asep Sudarman, Alek Ibrahim
Background and Aim: Sheep farming is a vital component of Indonesia’s agricultural economy, where the demand for meat continues to rise. Indigenous Garut sheep are well-adapted to local environments and are known for their high reproductive efficiency, but they have low growth rates. Conversely, Dorper sheep are renowned for their rapid growth and carcass quality, but they exhibit longer lambing intervals under tropical conditions. Crossbreeding offers a strategy to combine the strengths of both breeds. This study aimed to evaluate maternal reproductive performance and pre-weaning growth traits in purebred Dorper, Garut, and Dorper × Garut crossbred sheep under a commercial breeding system in Indonesia. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted on 1,744 ewes (1,498 Garut, 209 F1 Dorper × Garut, and 93 Dorper) and 3,248 lambs (2,846 F1 Dorper × Garut, 253 B1 backcrosses, and 149 Dorper) from a commercial enterprise in West Java. Data included lambing interval, litter size, birth weight, weaning weight, pre-weaning mortality, average daily gain (ADG), reproductive index, and productivity index. Statistical analyses employed one-way analysis of variance with Duncan’s multiple range test for post hoc comparisons. Results: F1 Dorper × Garut crossbred ewes demonstrated significantly shorter lambing intervals (206.65 ± 2.75 days) than pure Dorper (265.66 ± 1.14 days), comparable to Garut ewes (209.10 ± 1.08 days). However, Garut ewes had superior litter size (1.77 ± 0.18) relative to both crossbred (1.33 ± 0.04) and Dorper ewes (1.30 ± 0.42). In growth performance, Dorper lambs excelled in birth weight (3.35 ± 0.07 kg), weaning weight (23.93 ± 0.57 kg), and ADG (203.88 ± 4.65 g/day). F1 Dorper × Garut lambs showed significantly higher weaning weight (19.48 ± 0.35 kg) and ADG (165.34 ± 2.95 g/day) compared with Garut lambs (15.36 ± 0.10 kg; 130.47 ± 0.83 g/day). Conclusion: F1 Dorper × Garut crossbreeding synergizes Garut’s reproductive efficiency with Dorper’s growth performance, yielding crossbreds well-suited for tropical meat production. While Garut maintains a prolificacy advantage, F1 crossbreds deliver improved pre-weaning growth, supporting their use in commercial fattening programs. Maintaining pure Garut flocks for breeding and employing F1 crossbreds for production may enhance productivity and sustainability in Indonesia. Future research should assess carcass traits, multigenerational crossbreeding, and economic feasibility. © Jannah, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Animal Science, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Fauna No. 3, Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia; Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu, Jl. WR Supratman Kandang Limun, Bengkulu, 38122, Indonesia; Research Center for Animal Husbandry, Research Organization of Agriculture and Food, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong Science Center, Jalan Raya Jakarta-Bogor KM 46, Cibinong, Bogor, 16911, Indonesia; Faculty of Pharmacy, Health, and Science, Universitas Muhammadiyah Kuningan, Jl. Raya Pangeran Adipati No. D4, Kuningan, 45552, Indonesia; Department of Animal Bioscience, Faculty of Food Security, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Kampus Unesa 3, Jl. Prof. Dr. Moestopo No.4, Surabaya, 60131, Indonesia; Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, Faculty of Animal Science, IPB University, Jl. Raya Dramaga Kampus IPB Dramaga Bogor, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia
