Table 1.

Least squares means (±SE) of the effects of location, Dam genotype, Lambing season, Lambing year, Parity, and Lamb sex on litter size at birth and weaning for Local and Dorper crossbred sheep.

Source of variation	LSB		LSW
	N	LSM±SE	N	LSM + SE
Overall	3585	1.10 ± 0.03	2904	0.95 + 0.30
CV (%)	3585	26.48	2904	32.03
Location		***		***
Basona-Werana	1709	1.10a±0.03	1459	1.00a+0.04
Kewet-EF	941	1.03b ± 0.03	584	0.90b + 0.04
Kobo	460	0.99b ± 0.03	435	0.95b + 0.04
Merhabete	475	1.09a+0.04	426	0.92b + 0.04
Dam Genotype		ns		ns
Local	3242	1.06 ± 0.03	2611	0.94 + 0.03
Dorper crossbred	343	1.05 ± 0.03	293	0.94 + 0.04
Lambing Season		***		***
Dry season	1396	1.07a±0.03	1149	0.92b + 0.03
Major rainy season	1235	1.03b + 0.03	998	0.93b + 0.04
Miner rainy season	964	1.06a±0.03	757	0.98a+0.04
Lambing Year		**		**
2013	69	1.05a±0.04	67	0.99a+0.04
2014	324	1.09a±0.02	187	0.94b + a.03
2015	580	1.12a±0.02	408	0.90b + 0.02
2016	1068	1.11a±0.01	957	0.90b + 0.02
2017	979	1.08a±0.01	828	0.92b + 0.02
2018	248	1.04b ± 0.02	141	0.77c+0.03
2019	20	1.05a±0.07	19	1.05a+0.07
2020	220	1.10a±0.02	220	1.05a+0.03
2021	77	0.99b ± 0.03	77	0.97a+0.04
Parity of the Dam		**		ns
1StParity	2270	1.02b ± 0.03	1827	0.97 + 0.03
2nd Parity	793	1.06a±0.03	640	0.94 + 0.04
3rd Parity	307	1.03b ± 0.04	264	0.95 + 0.04
4th Parity	129	1.08a±0.04	99	0.95 + 0.04
5th & above parity	86	1.08a±0.04	74	0.91 + 0.05
Lamb Sex		*		ns
Male	1805	1.07 ± 0.03	1430	0.94 + 0.03
Female	1780	1.04 ± 0.03	1474	0.95 + 0.03

LSB (Litter Size at Birth), LSW (Litter Size at Weaning), LSM (Least Squares means), SE (Standard errors).