Özet:

Objective: As in all over the world, lamb mortality is an important issue of sheep husbandry in Turkey. Although there are very different reasons for this problem, it is thought that the primary reason is unhealthy pens. Barn climate, especially harmful gases caused by poor ventilation, can negatively affect the growth and health of lambs. The present study was investigated that the growth performance and health traits of Karacabey Merino lambs in a simple, cheap and fully open hoop pen (HP) and enclosed masonry type pen (MP) under breeder’s conditions. Material and Methods: Twenty Karacabey Merino lambs were housed together with their mothers in each pen type. A total of 40 lambs were included in the study. Lambs were distributed randomly to the HP pen and MP pen groups according to birth weight, gender and birth types. Results: Relative environment humidity monitored throughout the experiment ranged from 18% to 94% for the external environment, 8% to 97% for the HP, and 24% to 90% for the MP. The mean of NH3 concentration in the pens was 6.4 ppm for HP and 15.0 ppm for MP (P<0.0001). Daily live weight gains in lambs were 223.9±21.89 g for HP, and 217.9±30.27 g for MP until 52 days of age (P=0.8793); the values were found 307.5±13 g in HP and 341±12 g in MP until age of 130 days (P=0.0059). In the first month of experiment, higher values were obtained in the HP group in terms of hemoglobin (P=0.0186) and erythrocyte numbers (P=0.0156) than in the MP group. However, the difference between values disappeared in the second month of the experiment. The mortality was 30% in MP while, there was no lamb death in HB (P=0.0057). Conclusion: In the study, it could say that due to the lambs, which died in masonry pen due to poor ventilation conditions, they brought the health properties of the two pen types closer to each other. It can be stated that, the hoop pens can be used in closed areas as much as possible, especially in severe winds, because of its low cost and easy installation and transportation.