This research was carried out to study the effects of environmental factors on growth traits in Naini sheep breed. The growth related data (birth weight, weaning weight, six month weight, klieber ratio, average daily gain from birth to weaning and birth to six month) were collected from 6296 sheep which had been recorded during 2001-2008 at Naini sheep breeding station in Esfahan. Data were analyzed by general linear models using SAS program version 9.1. The effect of birth type was significantly (P>0.05) affected only birth weight but the age of dam has not significant effect (P<0.05) on any of the studied triats in this breed. The birth-year and herd had a significant effect on all growth traits (P<0.01). The obtained results showed that the incidence of growth traits in Naini sheep especially after birth age less affected by physiological factors (type of birth, lamb sex and age of dam), while the change in management factors can cause considerable variation in body weight of lambs in this breed.

Keywords: Environmental factors, Growth traits, Kleiber ratio, Naini sheep

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