Thirty-two Suffolk ewes were utilized for two years in two different mating systems: a traditional (mating at every twelve months) and an alternative (at every eight months), aimed to reduce the seasonality of available animal to slaughter. The fertility and prolificity of ewes in the alternative system were 66.7 and 110.4% and in the traditional system 76.1 and 103.1%. It was obtained 53 and 33 lambs in the period. Lamb mortality were 28.3 and 6.1% (P<0.01). Birth weight were 3.46 and 4.45kg (P<0.05); weaning weigth (60 days) were 18.73 and 18.86kg (P>0.05) and parturition ewe weight were 66.06 and 71.05kg (P>0.05) for alternative and traditional system, respectively. Alternative mating system made possible to obtain larger number of lambs, without deleteriou effect to ewes and lambs performances, as well as a better distribution in the number of lamb for slaughter during the year.
ewes; fertility; lamb; prolificity; reproduction system; suffolk
