Enhancing Body Weight in Balami Sheep Through Dorper Crossbreeding via Artificial Insemination Running Title: Dorper–Balami Crossbreeding Performance

This study was carried out to examine the possibility of enhancing the growth and productivity of Balami sheep by introducing Dorper blood by means of Laparoscopy Artificial Insemination (LAI) under semi-arid conditions of north-eastern Nigeria. Forty adult Balami ewes were separated into two groups, Dorper inseminated (DB, n = 20) and Balami naturally mated controls (BB, n = 20). Reproductive efficiency, growth rate from birth to twelve months of age, carcass quality, feed utilization and economic outcomes were compared under semi-intensive management. The birth weight in the Dorper-crossed lambs (DB) was significantly higher (4.40 ± 0.09 kg vs. 3.80 ± 0.09 kg; p = 0.0006) and the twelve-month body weight of the lambs was better (89.5 ± 1.88 kg vs. 73.3 ± 1.73 kg; p < 0.0001). Dressing percentage and loin eye area were found to be also higher in the crossbreds whereas feed conversion ratio improved from 5.99 to 5.01 (p < 0.0001). Conception rates were 80% and 60% for the DB and BB groups, respectively (p = 0.301). Economic assessment gave an empirical 83.5% decrease in gross margin loss for DB lambs when compared with controls. The results showed that LAI with Dorper semen can be used to improve growth, carcass quality and economic returns in Balami sheep. These findings demonstrate the biotechnological relevance of LAI as a precision reproductive tool for rapid genetic improvement, controlled germplasm dissemination, and scalable enhancement of indigenous sheep productivity in semi-arid systems. However, to achieve sustainable introduction of this crossbreeding strategy in semi-arid production systems, optimization on feed cost and broader on-farm validation are recommended.