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