Íslenskar landbúnaðarrannsóknir - 01.03.1970, Page 32

30 ÍSLENZKAR LANDBÚNAÐARRANNSOKNIR
rams could be tested on ewes belonging to
the experimental flock. Black ewes from a
neighbouring farm were brought to the
Experimental Farm and kept there during
the mating season for testing the third
ram. The 5 remaining rams were tested on
private farrns in the neighbourhood of the
Experimental Farm.
All 4 sons of ram No. 01091 were rnated
to black ewes only and all 4 sons of ram
No. 01097 to brown ewes only.
The 8 rams were tested as follows:
stead. The grey ram was in the pen for
2 days, but as ram No. 25001 had then
started to show libido, the grey ram was
taken out and ram No. 25001 reintroduc-
ed to the black ewes. At the sarne time all
the black ewes that tlie grey ram was
known to have servecl were recorded, and
all the other ewes assumed to have been
served by ram No. 25001. The lambing
results indicate very strongly that two
black ewes, one giving 2 grey and the other
one grey lamb, had been servecl by the
Sire of Tested on Colour of
rams Ram No. farm No. test ewes Remarks
01091 01114 01 Black 1 ewe from farm 24.
01115 01 Black Ewes from farm 24.
22001 22 Black
25001 25 Black
01097 01117 21 Brown Some ewes with white markings.
01118 01 Brown 2 ewes from farm 24.
01119 05 Brown Some ewes with white markings.
01120 20 Brown
The ewes front farm No. 24 were re-
turned to the home farm after the encl of
the mating season and records obtained
about them at lambing time with respect
to number, colour and sex of lambs.
On the farrn where ram No. 25001 was
tested, the ewes allotted to each ram were
kept in a separate pen and the ram let
loose in that pen. When ram No. 25001
was introduced into the pen witli the black
ewes intended for the experiment, he was
not seen to show any interest in the ewes
for the first 2 days. As the farm manager
feared that the ram would not serve at all
and that the ewes might become barren,
he decided to take ram No. 25001 out and
use a homozygous grey ram in this pen in-
grey ram. As no date of mating had been
recorded and the date of lambing was not
known with certainty either, exclusion of
these three lambs is most likely justified,
but the rernote possibility exists that they
are an exception to the rule, and they
have therefore been recorded, without
being included in the results from this
mating.
In addition to the 8 white rams describ-
ed above, a black badgerface ram, a son
of ram No. 01091 and a grey badgerface
ewe, was also kept for breeding. This ram,
No. 01116, was expected to be homozygous
badgerface. He was tested in the same yeai
on farm No. 23, by mating him to black
ewes.