Sheep - AgRIS

largely through selection. The breed is native to southern England, especially to the counties of
Dorset and Somerset. There are horned and polled strains of Dorsets named Dorset Horn and
polled Dorset. Except for the presence or absence of horns, both are identical. In the horned
strain both the rams and ewes are horned. The face, ears and legs are white in colour and
practically free from wool. The ears are of medium size, thin silky and carried well forward.
The nostrils, lips and skin are pink. The hooves are white. They produce a carcass of medium
weight fine boned and of superior quality meat. The weight of the fleece is 2.75 to 3.25 kg and
the wool is short, close fine in texture of 52 S to 58 S quality. A native ram and ewe in good
condition weigh 80-110 kg and 50-80 kg respectively, the lambs weigh 18-22 kg at 4 months
and 30-35 kg at 9 months of age. The breed is prolific. It is hardy and is capable of doing well
under most conditions.
iii) Southdown
Southdown is one of the oldest breeds of sheep. The best specimens now closely
approach the ideal mutton type in form. The body is compactly made and there is
exceptional fullness of the hind quarters together with a smoothness of outline few
specimens of other breeds equal. The body is oval or rounded on top, is wide and deep
and is covered with firm flesh. The legs are short which with other features give the
best specimens a symmetry that is unsurpassed.
This is one of the smallest of the breeds. The native place of the breed is southdown chalk
hills of Sussex in extreme south-eastern England. The face, ears and legs are mouse coloured or
light brown and the skin is bright pink. The breed is polled although scurs are found sometimes
on rams. The eyes are large bright and prominent and the ears are medium sizes and covered
with short wool. The ewes are not too prolific with 125 to 150 lambs per 100 ewes and produce
only average milk. The animals mature early. The fleece is short close, fairly dense and of fine
quality. The annual greasy fleece weight is around 2.25 to 3.25 kg. Mature rams and ewes in
good condition weigh around 80 to 100 kg and 55 to 70 kg respectively. The lambs weigh
around 15,22 and 27 kg at 3,6 and 9 months of age.
iv) Correidale
The dual-purpose breed combine meat production with wool production qualities.
Corriedale is the only important dual-purpose breed imported in India. This breed had its origin
in New Zealand and Australia where both mutton and wool production are sought for in a
single animal to satisfy the producer‘s requirements, since neither of the breeds used in
developing corridale i.e. Merinos and Lincolns-met producers need and yet both had some of
the things desired, the two were crossed. By interbreeding and careful selection a uniform type
was established that produced a good balance of mutton and wool. These sheep were named
after the correidale estate of Otage where the experimental crossbreeding was done. The
animals inherited a good mutton conformation for its long wool ancestors and derived a dense
fleece of good quality from its Merino percentage. Mature rams and ewes in good condition
weigh 80-100 kg and 55-80 kg respectively. On an average they produce 4.5 to 5.5 kg greasy
wool annually. The wool is of 56 S 58 S quality with a fibre diameter of 24.95 to 27.84µ. It is
bright and soft with a good length. Corriedales are known for outstanding efficiency to produce
more kg of lamb and wool per kg of body weight as compared to other range breeds. The face,
ears and legs of these animals are covered with white hair, although black spots are sometimes
present. Both sexes are polled although rams sometimes have horns. The ewes are fair in
prolificacy and milking ability. In India Corriedales have mostly been imported from Australia.
B) Indigenous
i) Nellore
Based on coat colour, three varieties of this breed are: ‗Palla‘ completely white or white
with light brown spots on head, neck, back and legs.
‗Jodipi‘(also called Jodimpu) are white with black spots particularly around the lips, eyes
and lower Jaw but also on belly and legs, and Dora are completely brown. The animals are
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