Table 4.
Least mean square and standard error of litter size of fat-tailed and thin-tailed sheep breeds of northeastern and northwestern Ethiopia.
| Traits | N | Min | MAX | Litter size (LSM±SE) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| overall | 624 | 1.00 | 1.23 ± 0.01 | |
| Tail type | ∗∗∗ | |||
| Fat-tailed | 332 | 1.00 | 2.25 | 1.02 ± 0.02b |
| Thin-tailed | 292 | 1.00 | 3.50 | 1.47 ± 0.02a |
| breed | ∗∗∗ | |||
| Afar | 113 | 1.00 | 1.33 | 1.03 ± 0.03d |
| Tumele | 113 | 1.00 | 2.25 | 1.10 ± 0.03d |
| SSFT | 106 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 1.04 ± 0.03d |
| Gumz | 93 | 1.00 | 2.83 | 1.47 ± 0.04b |
| Rutana | 97 | 1.00 | 3.50 | 1.76 ± 0.03a |
| Begayit | 102 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 1.26 ± 0.04c |
| parity | ∗∗∗ | |||
| 1 | 125 | 1.00 | 2.00 | 1.13 ± 0.03c |
| 2 | 145 | 1.00 | 3.00 | 1.22 ± 0.03b |
| 3 | 134 | 1.00 | 3.00 | 1.25 ± 0.03b |
| 4 | 105 | 1.00 | 3.50 | 1.28 ± 0.03b |
| 5 | 72 | 1.00 | 3.60 | 1.25 ± 0.04b |
| ≥6 | 43 | 1.00 | 2.83 | 1.51 ± 0.05a |
∗∗∗ = significant at P < 0.001, a,b,c,d, different letters with the same column with the same class indicates significant differences.