Abstract—In this study, it is aimed to be determined the some milk traits in Awassi ewes maintained at village conditions. Totally, 63 Awassi ewes with ages of 2-3 years were used as animal material. Milking in Awassi ewes started at thirty days after parturition. Controls of the milking were made at 14 days intervals. Lactation period and lactation milk production for each ewe were determined from data of controls based on test-day records and Sweden method. The means of lactation period and lactation milk yield for Awassi ewes were 165.46 days and 110.05 l, respectively. Lactation period and lactation milk yield were not statistically affected by age and born lamb's gender. The levels in middle of lactation period of Awassi ewes were defined as following: milk fat, dry matter, density, point of freezing, and protein were 9.40%, 11.61%, 1.0364 g/cm³, -0.59 °C and 6.09%, respectively. As a result, the findings suggest that the lactation period and the lactation milk yield of Awassi ewes were sufficient level for rural conditions.

Index Terms—milk yield, lactation, village conditions, ewe, awassi

Cite: Gönül Gürsu and Turgut Aygün, "Some Characteristics of Milk Yield in Awassi Ewes Maintained at Village Conditions," Journal of Advanced Agricultural Technologies, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 19-23, June 2014. Doi: 10.12720/joaat.1.1.19-23