Synergizing reproductive efficiency and growth performance: A large-scale evaluation of Dorper × Garut crossbreeding in Indonesian sheep

Vet World Vol.18 October-2025 Article - 1

Research Article

Veterinary World, 18(10): 2934-2944

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2025.2934-2944

Zaenab Nurul Jannah¹

, Panjono Panjono¹

, Amir Husaini Karim Amrullah²

, Bayu Andri Atmoko³

, Siti Aslimah^1,4

, Adi Tiya Warman⁵

, Mohammad Firdaus Hudaya³

, Besse Tenri Nurul Hikmah¹

, Asep Sudarman⁶

, and Alek Ibrahim³

1. Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Animal Science, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Fauna No. 3, Bulaksumur, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia.

2. Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bengkulu, Jl. WR Supratman Kandang Limun, Bengkulu, 38122, Indonesia.

3. Research Center for Animal Husbandry, Research Organization of Agriculture and Food, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jalan Raya Jakarta-Bogor KM 46, Cibinong Science Center, Cibinong, Bogor, 16911, Indonesia.

4. Animal Science Study Program, Faculty of Pharmacy, Health, and Science, Universitas Muhammadiyah Kuningan, Jl. Raya Pangeran Adipati No. D4, Kuningan, 45552, Indonesia.

5. Department of Animal Bioscience, Faculty of Food Security, Universitas Negeri Surabaya, Kampus Unesa 3, Jl. Prof. Dr. Moestopo No.4, Surabaya, 60131, Indonesia.

6. Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology, Faculty of Animal Science, IPB University, Jl. Raya Dramaga Kampus IPB Dramaga Bogor, Bogor, 16680, Indonesia.

Background and Aim: Sheep farming is a vital component of Indonesia’s agricultural economy, where the demand for meat continues to rise. Indigenous Garut sheep are well-adapted to local environments and are known for their high reproductive efficiency, but they have low growth rates. Conversely, Dorper sheep are renowned for their rapid growth and carcass quality, but they exhibit longer lambing intervals under tropical conditions. Crossbreeding offers a strategy to combine the strengths of both breeds. This study aimed to evaluate maternal reproductive performance and pre-weaning growth traits in purebred Dorper, Garut, and Dorper × Garut crossbred sheep under a commercial breeding system in Indonesia.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted on 1,744 ewes (1,498 Garut, 209 F1 Dorper × Garut, and 93 Dorper) and 3,248 lambs (2,846 F1 Dorper × Garut, 253 B1 backcrosses, and 149 Dorper) from a commercial enterprise in West Java. Data included lambing interval, litter size, birth weight, weaning weight, pre-weaning mortality, average daily gain (ADG), reproductive index, and productivity index. Statistical analyses employed one-way analysis of variance with Duncan’s multiple range test for post hoc comparisons.

Results: F1 Dorper × Garut crossbred ewes demonstrated significantly shorter lambing intervals (206.65 ± 2.75 days) than pure Dorper (265.66 ± 1.14 days), comparable to Garut ewes (209.10 ± 1.08 days). However, Garut ewes had superior litter size (1.77 ± 0.18) relative to both crossbred (1.33 ± 0.04) and Dorper ewes (1.30 ± 0.42). In growth performance, Dorper lambs excelled in birth weight (3.35 ± 0.07 kg), weaning weight (23.93 ± 0.57 kg), and ADG (203.88 ± 4.65 g/day). F1 Dorper × Garut lambs showed significantly higher weaning weight (19.48 ± 0.35 kg) and ADG (165.34 ± 2.95 g/day) compared with Garut lambs (15.36 ± 0.10 kg; 130.47 ± 0.83 g/day).

Conclusion: F1 Dorper × Garut crossbreeding synergizes Garut’s reproductive efficiency with Dorper’s growth performance, yielding crossbreds well-suited for tropical meat production. While Garut maintains a prolificacy advantage, F1 crossbreds deliver improved pre-weaning growth, supporting their use in commercial fattening programs. Maintaining pure Garut flocks for breeding and employing F1 crossbreds for production may enhance productivity and sustainability in Indonesia. Future research should assess carcass traits, multigenerational crossbreeding, and economic feasibility.

Keywords: Dorper sheep, Garut sheep, Crossbreeding, Lambing interval, Productivity index, Indonesia.

How to cite this article: Jannah ZN, Panjono P, Amrullah AHK, Atmoko BA, Aslimah S, Warman AT, Hudaya MF, Hikmah BTN, Sudarman A, and Ibrahim A (2025). Synergizing reproductive efficiency and growth performance: A large-scale evaluation of Dorper × Garut crossbreeding in Indonesian sheep, Veterinary World, 18(10): 2934-2944.

Received: 14-05-2025 Accepted: 25-08-2025 Published online: 08-10-2025

Corresponding author: Panjono Panjono E-mail: panjono@ugm.ac.id

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2025.2934-2944

Copyright: Jannah, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.