Adaptive, morphometric and productive responses of Brazilian hair lambs: Crossing between indigenous breeds - A machine learning approach

For the first time, the thermoregulatory, morphometric and productive responses of the Morada Nova breed and its crosses with the Santa Inês and Rabo Largo breeds in the Brazilian semi-arid region were evaluated. Subsequently, the relationship between thermoregulation and morphometric, productive and non-carcass components was verified. 30 lambs, weighing 2.26 ± 0.53 kg at birth and 7.31 ± 1.85 kg at weaning, were distributed into three genetic groups: Morada Nova (MN) and its F1 crossbred Morada Nova × Rabo Largo (RL×MN) and Morada Nova x Santa Inês (SI×MN) animals in a completely randomized factorial design (3 genetic groups × 2 sexes). Machine learning techniques were performed in order to understand the relationship between the variables and in order to identify phenotypic biomarkers. No interaction effect was observed for any variable under study (P > 0.05). Male lambs have higher heart rate (P = 0.03), are heavier (P