Sheep - AgRIS

The tree leaves, classed as emergency fodders for livestock, form integral part of feed for
sheep in India. They serve as a potential source of feed during December to June when the
grazing material becomes scarce in arid and semi-arid regions, and grazing lands are covered
with snow in hill regions. The nutritive value of important tree leaves is given in Table 8.3.
The tree leaves contain comparatiwly lower percentage of crude protein than grasses and hays.
Their fibres become complex, and with age highly lignified and crude protein content decreases
and the crude fibre content increases. Their calcium content is 2-3 times more than in the
cultivated fodders and grasses. The phosphorus content is low and so phosporus balance is
negative. The dry-matter consumption by sheep from different top feeds is quite satisfactory as
they consume on an average 3.3 kg from most of the annual and perennial grasses. The crude
protein is digestible from about 30 to 80 per cent. Tannic acid in tree leaves is a limiting factor
for the proper utilization of protein and carbohydrates by ruminants. In spite of high intakes of
nitrogen and calcium, the balances of these nutrients are poor when the tree leaves are fed as
sole feed. The wide ratio of calcium to phosphorus intake results in poor utiliza tion ofthese
inorganic nutrients. The higher calcium in tree leaves is of no use unless phosporus is
supplemented with them.
8.1.1.4 Traditional grazing practices
Under the existing system of feeding management sheep in India are mainly raised under
exclusive rangeland grazing with supplementation of top feed resources during critical lean
season. Organized husbandry practices, nutritional inputs commensurating with various
physiological stages and production traits and prophylactic and curative health coverage are
almost negligible. The native sheep have poor production potential and efforts for their genetic
upgradation by introduction of high producing breeds has not been largely successful under
field condition due to lack of supporting feed input. The sheep under field condition subsist by
grazing/browsing on variety of grasses, bushes and top feeds. In vogue grazing practices for
sheep are indiscriminate and governed by compulsions of feed resource availability, taboos and
tradition specific for the regions and socio-economic conditions of the farmers. Under the
existing management practices of exclusive range land grazing the lambs hardly achieve 15 to
16 kg at six months of age whereas they are marketed for slaughter around 9 to 12 months
weighing about 20 to 22 kg with average carcass weight of 10 kg. The emerging awareness of
consumers for quality meat, export avenue to middle eastern countries and changing land
utilization pattern is likely to alter the small ruminant production system in the country and in
future majority ofthe stock will be raised on stall feeding or grazing with supplementation to
meet the market requirement. Appropriate technologies have been generated to meet the
requirements of changmg scenario.
Long term experiments with sheep and goats maintained under free grazing on semiarid
forest rangeland at stocking density of 3 sheep and goats per hectare indicated that
the lambs weighed 11, 16 and 21 kg at 3, 6 and 12 months of age and in similar
experiments on arid range land spread over three years the lambs weighed 11 and 16 kg
and kids 10 and 13 kg respectively. The innovative experiment involving a local sheep
farmer to graze and manage sheep as his own stock on exclusive rangeland grazing and stocked
as per carrying capacity it was evident that overall productivity of native sheep was better than
the crossbred. Continuous grazing provided desirable production traits in the first year which
decreased in second year followed by termination of experiment in the first quarter of third year
as the pasture could not maintain the animals leading to heavy mortality. The results indicated
that the pasture even stocked as per carrying capacity has to be provided rest for its proper
rejuvenation and hpalth. Survey, spread over five years, conducted on farmers own flock
maintained on public grazing land in villages indicated that the native and crossbred sheep
weighed 9.2, 13.1, 1 6.1 and 19.7 kg respectively at 2, 4, 6 and 9 months of age and crossbred
were heavier than native. Similar studies on lab to land and Operational Research Project
adopted sheep farmers of Rajasthan indicated that birth, 3, 6, and 9 months weights of native
lambs were 2.9, 10.9, 13.5 and 20.2 kg while the corresponding weights in crossbreeds were
3.0, 11.6, 14.2 and 19.5 kg respectively. The results indicated that crossbreeds were heavier
than natives at birth, 3 and 6 months of age while at marketable age of 9 months natives were
heavier than crossbred.
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