Sheep - AgRIS

Marked ewes are either insemianted to get the labour force acquainted with procedure and
a few rams checked and trained or these are put aside and brought back into the mob at the end
of the cycle. Generally the drafted ewes are insemianted on the acceptable type of estrous
mucus. Obviously those ewes which are drafted late in estrous are rejected.
After the morning draft the remaining flock is redrafted at 4,00 p.m. These ewes which are
called as "A ewes" have commenced estrous between 9.00 a.m. and 4 p.m. The main flock is
returned to the paddock with teasers and brought in for drafting again the following morning.
The marked ewes which are called as "B ewes" have commenced estrous between 4.00 and
8.00 a.m.
The "A ewes" are inseminated between 7.00 to 8.00 a.m. the following day. The "B ewes"
are insemianted between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. the day they are drafted off.
All the "A ewes" are inseminated between 15 and 23 hours after the onset of estrous.
All the "B ewes" are inseminated between 6 and 11 hours after the onset of estrous.
9. 3 Grazing & Feeding Systems
9. 3.1 Traditional Grazing
Sheep raising is mainly in the hands of the weaker sections of the community which either
do not possess land or their landhold- ings are so small that crop cultivation does not provide
remunera- tive employment all the year round. Further, in the major sheep rearing areas
especially in north western districts of Rajasthan grazing and stock watering resources are
available only for a few months in a year, compelling shepherds to lead a nomadic life. The
system of constant migration is one of the main reasons for the high percent- age of
illiteracy among these sections of the people. Even children of the family have no chances of
education because they are also constantly on the move and are employed by their family for
graz- ing the sheep flocks. Due to lack of education these sheep owners are not able to
appreciate and adopt improved sheep husbandry practices brought to them by extension
workers. Sheep management has thus remained in a neglected state. Migration and grazing
practices have an impact on the present status of sheep husbandry in the country.
In the northern hill- region, migration of sheep usually starts in April-May and it takes
about a month for the flocks to reach the alpine pastures. The flocks graze on these pastures for
about 5 to 6 months and then start returning to the foothills by September-October and reach
the destination by November. The time taken to reach the alpine pastures largely depends upon
weather conditions and the vegetation available on the route of migration. In the hill areas, one
or two members of the farnily go with the flock during migration but the rest stay behind to
look after agricultural operations. The economic condition of shepherds in this region is better
than that of their counterparts in the plains. A fairly large percentage of sheep in Rajasthan is
maintained on migratory basis. According to an estimate about 1.5 million sheep migrate from
the State every year and out of this about 0.6 million sheep are on migration all the year round.
Sheep migration is a regular practice with the sheep breeders of the western arid districts of
Jaisalmer, Barmer, Jodhpur, Pali, Jalore, Nagaur and Bikaner. It is understood that prior to
Partition, sheep from Jaisalmer and Barmer districts used to migrate to the canal areas of Sind
during the months of March to June while the sheep from the eastern areas used to migrate
towards further east or southwards to the bordering areas in the States of Uttar Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Sheep breeders from the districts of Jaisalmer, Barmer and
Bikaner and parts of Jodhpur practise temporary migration extending over periods of 6 to 9
months. The flock owners usually start migration with their sheep after Diwali festival in
November. Sheep flocks excepting those from Barmer and Jaisalmer districts usually migrate
towards the south to Madhya Pradesh taking different routes and finally reach Nagda which is a
central place for sale of wool. Sheep flocks also move towards east to Uttar Pradesh along the
Chambal and Yamuna river belts. It has been estimated that about 0.2 to 0.3 million sheep from
Jaisalmer and Barmerandparts of JodhpurandJaloremigratetowards Gujarat and the breeders
arrange for the sale of wool at Deesa in Gujarat. As the routes towards Madhya Pradesh are
new and quite unfamiliar to the sheep breeders of Jaisalmer and Barmer they do not migrate
long distances except under very acute conditions of drought and scarcity of fodder. This may
perhaps be one of the reasons for heavy losses of sheep sustained by the sheep breeders of these
districts during continuous drought periods. Sheep flocks from parts of Bikaner, Churu and
Sikar districts usually migrate towards north to areas in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi. Sheep
owners of Nagaur district practise migration all the year round because of heavy pressure on
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