Lohi sheep

The Lohi sheep is found in southern Punjab in India. It is used for its carpet quality wool and meat production. The body is white and the head is usually tan, black or brown.

The mature weight of the males is 65 kg (143 lb) with the female at 45 kg (99 lb). The average annual wool clip is 3 kg (6 lb) of medium wool this is approximately 40 micrometres in diameter. Average daily milk production from the Lohi ewes is 1.2 liters (0.3 gallons).

The very large lop ears, which are usually also tasseled, are the most distinctive feature. Rams and ewes are polled.Accession number: INDIA_SHEEP_1700_NALI_14015

Country: India

Home Tract: Rajasthan

Distribution: Ganganagar, Churu and Jhunjhunu districts of Rajasthan, southern part of Hissar and Rohtak districts of Haryana.

Morphological Characteristics


Body: Medium-sized

Body coat: Fleece is white, coarse, dense and long-stapled.

Forehead: Covered with wool

Face: Light brown in colour

Skin: Pink

Horns: Both sexes are polled

Ears: Large and leafy

Tail: Short to medium and thin

Belly: Covered with wool

Legs: Covered with wool

Morphometric traits

Body weight: Adult males: 34.61±1.75 kg; Adult females: 24.34±0.50 kg

Body length: Adult males: 65.69±0.96 cm; Adult females: 66.18±0.09 cm

Height at withers: Adult males: 65.25±0.74 cm; Adult females: 64.11±0.13 cm

Chest girth: Adult males: 76.69±1.08 cm; Adult females: 80.09±0.36 cm

Ear length: 11.62±0.10 cm

Tail length: 17.14±0.09 cm

Reproductive traits

Age at breeding: At farmer’s flock - ewes: 18 months; rams: 12 months; under farm condition - 686.52±35.90 days

Age at first lambing: 985.67±57.04 days

Litter size: Single

Production traits

Milk: Not milked

Fleece: 1.46±0.1 (at six month); both the clips, taken in March and September, are yellow, the September clips being golden yellow.

Slaughter age: 5 months

Dressing percentage: 48.25±3.29%

Feed conversion efficiency: 19.78±2.56%

Remarks: Nali is a good carpet-quality wool breed, with the densest and heaviest fleeces among the breeds of Rajasthan and a wool of reasonably good carpet quality.

References

Acharya R.M., 1982, “Sheep and goat breeds of India,” Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. [Web Reference] ICAR-CSWRI, 2016, “Breed Profiles - Breeds of Sheep in different agro-ecological regions in India and their major products,” ICAR-Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Avikanagar, India. [Web Reference] NBAGR, “Registered Breeds of Sheep,” [Web Reference][1]

References

  1. "Lohi". Breeds of Livestock. Oklahoma State University, Dept. of Animal Science. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
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