Sheep farming is a profitable livestock business focused on meat, wool, and milk production. It requires proper breed selection, nutrition, housing, and disease management for high productivity. Sheep are adaptable to various climates and provide a steady income for small and large-scale farmers.
Fine Wool Breeds The fine wool breeds produce fine and crimpy wool. Their fleece is heavy, dense, and of good quality. It contains a large amount of yolk which comprises suint and grease. Sheep have a strong banding instinct and the ability to graze on poor-quality range. Of the exotic fine wool breeds imported in
Specialized mutton breeds that mature fast, have high prolificacy, higher body weight gains, high feed conversion, high carcass yield, and produce good quality mutton, have been developed. These are generally maintained under more intensive management, unlike the apparel wool sheep. India has from time to time imported these mutton sheep breeds mostly from the UK
India’s vast genetic resources in slicep are reflected by the availability of 40 breeds. Most of these breeds have evolved naturally through adaptation to agro-ecological conditions and are generally named after their place of origin or on the basis of prominent characteristics. A few breeds, e.g. Hissardale, Kashmir Merino and Nilgiri, Avivastra and Avikalin are
Agroclimatic Zones and Farming India can be divided, on the basis of the agroclimatic conditions and the type of sheep, into 4 regions, viz. (1) the north-western, central arid and semi-arid region, (ii) the southern region, (iii) the eastern region, and (iv) the northern temperate region. North-western, Central Arid and Semi-arid Region This region comprises
DOMESTICATED sheep belong to the family Bovidae, genus Ovis and species Aries. Sheep in India as well as in Arabia have originated from their wild ancestor Ovis orientale Vignei. Sheep along with goats were perhaps the first ruminants to be domesticated by man. They appear to have been freshly domesticated in the mountains of Iran,