Different breeds of sheep and their characteristics

Different breeds of sheep and their characteristics

Objectives

• To identify different breeds of sheep according to their characteristics

• To understand the uses that can be obtained by each different breed types

Definition

• Sheep

– Quadruped

– Ruminant

– Mammal

– Kept as livestock

Domestication of sheep

• Descended from the wild mouflon of Europe and Asia

Scientific classification

• Kingdom – Animalia

• Phylum – Chordata

• Class – Mammalia

• Order – Artiodactyla

• Family – Bovidae

• Sub family – Caprinae

• Genus – Ovis

• Species – O. aries

Parts of the body of a sheep

Digestive system of a sheep

Denture arrangement of sheep

• Two types of teeth

– Milk teeth (20)

– Permanent teeth (32)

• No front teeth on the upper pallet

• Can use to determine the age of sheep

Supracervicalhorns

Webbed horns

Homonymous horns

Polyceterate horns

Types of horns

Types of wool

• Fine wool types

• Medium wool types

• Long wool types

• Crossbred wool types

• Fur-types

Different breeds

• Jaffna local

• Bikenary

• Bannur

• Red madrus

• Dorset

Jaffna local

• Sheep rearing was based on traditional mixed crops integration practices and operated under limited or no input basis.

Morphological features

• Small to medium sized

• Angular body covered with short hair of white, tan and black colours

• Height

– 64.70cm (ram)

– 62.33cm (ewe)

More about Jaffna local….

• Male : Female (breeding population) = 1:14

• Age at first lambing – 16 months

• Lambing interval – 6-12 months

• Lifetime production per ewe – 7-9 lambs

• People in Jaffna do not consume meat because of the belief of having allergies from meat, so the meat is marketed to other parts of country

• When their rearing areas are flooded during rainy season, they are moved to another place

Purpose of rearing Jaffna local

• Meat

• Faecal material (as biomass)

• Pets (because of the belief of having fortune)

Bikenary

Morphological features

• White body with light brown or black

face

• Small body

• Long face

• Small tubular ears

• Polled

More about Bikenary…

• Purebred or crossbred

• Only lustrous carpet wool-producing breed

• Recently, number of crossbreds are increasing

• Flock size – about 150 in a herd

Bannur

Morphological features

• White body with brown colour head and neck

• Convex face

• Medium drooping ears

• Usually polled

• Short legs

• Short tail

• Coarse wool

More about Bannur…

• Highly demanded for meat

• Adaptable to all types of climates from hot tropical to cold climates

• Fast growth and excellent feed conversion ratio

• High twinning percentage

• Produces very good crossbreds with local goats

Red madras

Morphological features

• Medium sized well built body

• Broad chest

• Reddish brown colour, varied from tan to dark brown

• Usually polled

• Ears are pendulous

• Tail of medium length

More about Red madras….

• Main breeding time – July to September

• Have excellent feed conversion efficiency

• Native breed of Tamil Nadu in India

• Gives high quality meat and skin

• Flock size – 20-50

Dorset

Morphological features

• White face and body

• Polled

• Curved horned

• Short round ears

• Fully covered with medium length wool

More about Dorset…

• Produces 4-5 labs per year

• Gives strong, white fleece

• Has great weight

– 100-120Kg (ram)

– 70-90 (ewe)

Main products supplied by different types of sheep

Meat

• Dorset

• Suffolk

• Cheviot

Hair

• Merino

• Rambouillet

Meat and hair

• Montadale

• Kooka

Diseases

• By prions – scrapie

• By virus – foot and mouth disease, sheeppox

• By bacteria – foot rot, fleece rot

• By fungi – facial eczema

• By helminth – flatworms, tapeworms

• Arachnides – ticks, lice, mites

Summary

Characteristics Jaffna local

Bikenary Bannur Red madras Dorset

Body Medium sized

Small Medium Medium Large

Build Angular Medium Short Well built Well built

Height 62-64cm

Wool type Fur type Mediumtype

Fine type Fur type Medium type

Main products Meat, manure

Wool, meat Meat, wool Meat, skin Wool, meat

Reference:-

Livestock Statistics (Sri Lanka)http://www.daph.gov.lk

Animal Husbandary, G.C.Banerjee