Data on 566 Tellicherry goats, recorded between 1988 and 2007 were used to study the effect of nongenetic factors on body weight and daily gain from birth to 12 months of age. The least-squares means for body weight at birth and at 12 months of age were 2.17 ± 0.03 and 18.78 ± 0.44 kg, respectively. The preand post-weaning average daily weight gains were 72.41 ± 1.68 and 37.46 ± 1.49 g, respectively, and the associated growth efficiencies were 3.11 ± 0.08 and 1.34 ± 0.05, respectively. Significant differences associated with the year of kidding were observed in body weight, weight gain and efficiency in weight gain at different stages of growth. Growth rate of kids born between December and February was relatively slower than those born in other months and this can result from seasonal changes and suggests that it is necessary to plan the kidding season rationally by controlling the oestrus and mating time. The kids born as twin had lower birth weight and slower early growth rate than those born as single but had a higher postweaning growth rate. The heritabilities of different traits were moderate to high, except for birth weight, which was of low heritability. The phenotypic and genetic correlations among the different body weights were positive and low to high in magnitude._______________________________________________________________________________

The aim of the present study was to analyse the influence of year, season and parity on productive and reproductive performances in 110 Soviet Chinchilla and 64 White Giant rabbits under tropical climatic conditions of Tamil Nadu in the period between 2005 and 2009. A total of 731 records for the overall leastsquares means for litter size at birth and weaning, litter weight at birth and weaning, average weight of kit at birth and weaning and pre-weaning growth rate in Soviet Chinchilla rabbits were 5.1±0.1, 3.7±0.1, 256.4±6.9 g, 2465.4±73.6 g, 50.4±0.7 g, 694.1±13.1 g and 15.3±0.3 g/d, respectively, and the values for White Giant rabbits were 5.1±0.1, 4.1±0.1, 259.6±6.1 g, 2432.6±68.7 g, 50.8±0.4 g, 614.6±13.5 g and 13.4±0.3 g/d, respectively. Breed had significant effect on litter size at weaning (P<0.01), average weight of kit at weaning (P<0.05) and pre-weaning growth rate (P<0.01). Year of birth had significant effect on litter size and litter weight at birth (P<0.05), litter size and litter weight at weaning (P<0.01), average weight of kits at weaning and pre-weaning growth rate (P<0.01) in Soviet Chinchilla and White Giant rabbits. Season of birth had significant effect on litter weight at birth and weaning (P<0.05), average weight of kits at birth (P<0.05) and weaning (P<0.01) and pre-weaning growth rate (P<0.01) in both the breeds. Parity had significant effect on litter weight and average weight of kits at weaning (P<0.01) and pre-weaning growth rate (P<0.01). The study revealed that the Soviet Chinchilla and White Giant breeds performed well in the tropical climatic conditions of Tamil Nadu and could be used for profitable meat production. The significant influence of factors such as year of birth and season of birth observed on different production traits emphasises the role played by the management in optimising the realisation of genetic potential under local agro-climatic conditions.

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An experiment was conducted to study the effects of concentrate and urea molasses mineral block (UMMB) supplementation on sheep under intensive system of rearing. Eight weaned Mecheri ram lambs were reared under concentrate (T 1 ) and UMMB (T 2 ) supplementation for 150 days. There was no significant difference between the groups in final body weight at the end of growth trial. Cumulative DMI was significantly higher (P < 0.01) in T 1 group than T 2 but, the supplementation of UMMB increased the intake of other fodders. Cumulative body weight gain was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in T 1 group in 5 months of the feeding experiment. Cumulative FCR was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in T 1 group in 0 to 60 and 0 to 90 days period and there after the difference was not significant. Cumulative per cent feed efficiency was better in T 1 group at 0 to 90 days and 0 to 150 days of the experiment. It was concluded that UMMB could be used as a versatile non protein nitrogenous supplement to replace concentrate feed for intensively reared Mecheri sheep.Key words: Concentrate feed, Growth, Intensive rearing, Mecheri lambs, UMMB supplementation. INRODUCTIONDecreasing grazing lands and low productivity of animals, coupled with irregular pattern of rainfall are the important factors affecting the profit of sheep rearing. Because of these reasons, intensive rearing and grazing with supplementation are nowadays tried by the farmers in sheep production. Intensive system of rearing is recommended to farmers with cultivable land and places with limited scope for grazing animals. Shortage of fodder and their poor nutritive value could be tackled to some extent by way of supplementation with concentrate feed or any other feed supplements. But these supplements are usually costly.Use of non protein nitrogenous (NPN) substances like urea has been tried widely to replace the costly source of proteins in ruminant diet. Urea Molasses Mineral Block (UMMB) is made by combining urea, molasses and minerals in a form that can be used for feeding of animals and it has been used successfully in cattle (Sansoucy, 1995 andGarg et al. 1998). In some countries, UMMB have also been tried in diets of small ruminants (Aquino et al., 1998 andForsberg et al., 2002). In India studies on supplementation of UMMB for small ruminants are limited. Hence, the present study was conducted to find out the effect of concentrate and Urea Molasses Mineral Block supplementation on the growth and feed consumption of Mecheri lambs for mutton production under intensive system of rearing. MATERIALS AND METHODSA growth trial was conducted with 16 main season Mecheri ram lambs and the animals were randomly divided into two groups of eight animals each. Ram lambs selected were in the age group of 2 to 4 months with average body weight of 9.8 kg and were weaned and accustomed to concentrate feeding. First treatment group was reared under intensive rearing with concentrate supplementation (T 1 ) and second group under intensive rearing with UMMB supplementation (T ...

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