Paper Title
Non Genetic Effects And Prediction Equations For Milk Traits Of Shami Ewes In Erbil-KRG-IRAQ

Abstract
Data utilized in this study were obtained from Shami does bred at Shami Breeding Station/ Qushtapa-Erbil, Northern Iraq during Sep. 2011- Mar. 2012. A total of 70 records of milk yield before weaning (MBW), after weaning (MAW), total (TMY), daily (ADM), peak (peak) and time to peak (TP) were analyzed. The overall means of MBW, MAW, TMY, ADM, Peak and TP were 158.71 kg, 93.05 kg, 251.01 kg, 1.358 kg, 2.153 kg, and 32.143 days, respectively. Results revealed that there was no significant effect of age of does on their milk yield at different periods as well the peak and time to peak. Does kidding in winter had significantly (P<0.01) higher MAW and TMY than does kidding in autumn season. Effect of type of birth was significant (P<0.05) on MBW and (P<0.01) on Peak only. The effect of weight of doe at kidding on all studied traits was not significant. The simplest equation contains the third and fifth monthly milk yield after kidding and considered the most significant (P<0.01) and more reliable than others to predict TMY. The equation is: TMY = 59.43 + 105.9 (YM3) + 67.22 (YM5). There was a positive and highly significant correlation between TMY and each of monthly milk yields which ranged from 0.53 to 0.88. It could be concluded that partial milk yield could be used as an indicator to predict total milk yield, and the positive and high correlations among total and partial milk yields give management advantages in culling decisions. Keywords- Shami Goat, Milk traits, Prediction equation.