PRODUCTIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF KARAKUL SHEEP UNDER RANGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OF BALOCHISTAN, PAKISTAN

Author:
Kamran Baseer Achakzai, Muhammad Abbas Shah, Ramla Achakzai, Ghulam Hussain Kakar

Doi: 10.26480/mahj.02.2025.59.67

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

ABSTRACT

Data on productive, reproductive and wool traits of Karakul sheep that are raised under range management system at Karakul Sheep Breeding Farm situated in Maslakh rangelands Balochistan Pakistan was used to evaluate their performance. For this retrospective study, six years (2015 to 2020) farm records are used. The research areas covered in the study mainly focused on three traits with underlying characteristics including firstly the; Growth Traits (birth weight, weaning weight, weight at six months age, twelve months weight and adult weight); secondly the Reproductive Traits (age at puberty, age at first service/breeding, breeding season, lambing season, lambing and fertility percentage, lambing interval and sex ratio) and lastly the Wool Traits (wool yield, staple length and fiber fineness). The data was statistically analyzed using standard analysis of variance procedures. Findings showed that the average birth weight was 4.53+0.021 and 3.72+0.02 kgs, weaning weight 20.20+0.06 and 18.49+0.12 kgs in male and female lambs, respectively and the difference between both the sexes were significant (P<0.05). Live weight at six months age averaged 27.58+0.07 and 24.05+0.04 kgs; at twelve months of age averaged as 37.70+0.29 and 34.24+0.11 kgs and at maturity 46.67+0.14 and 43.02+0.13 kgs in male and female animals, respectively, while the differences between the sexes were significant (P<0.05). Age at first breeding was 773.76+0.58 days, lambing interval as 373.58+6.34 days with 75% lambing percent, fertility percent was 78% and male to female ratio in the breed was 33:67. The grease fleece weight yield averaged 1.43 and 0.99 kgs in male and female with staple length of 6.35 cm having fineness of 42.60 micron at the time of shearing. It was analyzed that for further enhancement of the sheep’s productive and reproductive traits in the province, effective breeding plan, improved management and feeding practices may be followed that can lead in getting improved production, profitability and desired outcomes.