Economic and biological features of sheep obtained from crossing the Edilbaev breed with a dorper

The relevance of the work is due to the need to increase the efficiency of sheep farming in the southern regions of Russia to improve food security and increase the production of high-quality meat. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of crossing Edilbaev sheep with dorper sheep on the productive and biochemical parameters of young animals in the southern regions of Russia. During the study, three groups of animals were formed: purebred sheep of the Edilbaev breed (control group), mixed young with an equal proportion of blood (½ Edilbaev × ½ dorper, the first group) and young with a greater proportion of blood dorper (¼ Edilbaev × ¾ dorper, the second group). The results showed that the young of the second group demonstrated the highest indicators in terms of live weight and improved biochemical characteristics. The live weight in this group was 10.3 % higher (p<0.05) compared to the control group. The total protein level in the second group was 110.89±10.86 g/l, which exceeded the indicators of the control group (105.68±5.33 g/l) by 4.9 % (p<0.05). It was also revealed that the serum calcium content in the second group exceeded the values of the first group by 84.3 % (p<0.001), which indicates an improvement in mineral metabolism. The analysis confirms that crossing with the dorper breed improves the productive and physiological parameters of young animals due to the pronounced effect of heterosis, especially in the case of half-blooded animals.