The study revealed that the 4 sheep breeds of Karnataka differed significantly with respect to body weight and other physical traits. Kenguri and Bellary breeds of sheep were larger and heavier than Hassan and Mandya sheep breeds. Amongst them Kenguri rams were heaviest followed by Bellary, Mandya and Hassan but in ewes the above order was reversed in breeds of southern Karnataka. The overall difference in body weights of Kenguri and Bellary rams was 9.66 kg whereas in Hassan and Mandya rams it was 4.37 kg. The corresponding values in ewes were 4.06 kg and 1.5 kg. In ewes, the increase in magnitude of a morphometric trait from a lower age group to next higher age group was marginal. All the sheep breeds of Karnataka attained maximum weight at 8-tooth age

ANAND JAIN

D K SADANA

DINESH KUMAR YADAV

M G GOVINDAIAH

T ASWATHNARAYAN

V S KULKARNI

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108Present address: 1,2,6Principal Scientist (anand_nbagr@rediffmail.com, dkyadav66@gmail.com, sadana.dk@gmail.com), 3Professor (AG&B; vish_kul@rediffmail.com),University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad. 4 Former Dean,Veterinary College, KVAFSU, Bengaluru. 5 Former Director,Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services,Bengaluru.Sheep, reared primarily for meat and wool in India, playsignificant socio-economic roles in the lives of ruraldwellers. Kenguri, Bellary, Hassan and Mandya sheepbreeds of Karnataka are maintained by the farmers underextensive grazing system in tropical monsoon type climate.The distribution, characteristics and management of these4 breeds were described by Jain et al. (2005, 2005a, 2006and 2006a). The morphometric characterization of Indiansheep is limited to single breed/population. However, Yadavet al. (2012) have given a comparative analysis ofmorphometric traits of Muzaffarnagri sheep with Munjalsheep. The present study attempts a comparison ofmorphometric traits of all the four sheep breeds. Theinformation generated would enable inter-breedcomparisons of morphometric traits, thereby assisting inthe development of improvement and conservationprogrammes.Data on morphometric traits, viz. body weight, bodylength, height at withers, chest girth, ear length and taillength were recorded from 327 sheep flocks on 416, 576,205, 446 ewes, and 82, 148, 54, 54 rams of Kenguri, Bellary,Hassan and Mandya breeds respectively. The body weights(kg) were recorded with a weighing machine and themorphometric traits were measured (cm) with a measuringtape after making the animal stand squarely on an evenground. The age of the animal was estimated from itsdentition and varied from 2 to 8-tooth. The mean differencesbetween traits of the 4 breeds were tested using one-wayANOVA procedure in SAS (2009). Means separation wasdone using Tukey's HSD at 5% significance level. Theanalysis was performed on pooled as well as age-wisegrouped data.The mean values of morphometric traits, their SE andsignificance of differences are presented in Table 1. TheIndian Journal of Animal Sciences 84 (8): 916–918, August 2014/Short communicationA comparison of morphometric traits of sheep breeds ofKarnataka in the farmers' flocksANAND JAIN1, DINESH KUMAR YADAV2, V S KULKARNI3, M G GOVINDAIAH4,T ASWATHNARAYAN5 and D K SADANA6National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources, Karnal, Haryana 132 001 IndiaReceived: 22 September 2011; Accepted: 6 May 2014Key words: Farmers' flocks, Kenguri, Mandya, Morphometric traits, Sheepfour breeds differed significantly (P<0.05) with respect tobody weight and all other morphological traits except earand tail lengths. The differences were found significant overthe sexes. The overall mean body weight of rams washighest in Kenguri (52.63±0.86 kg) followed by Bellary(42.97±0.62 kg), Mandya (37.21±0.85 kg) and Hassan(32.84±0.86 kg), whereas the body weight in ewes washighest in Kenguri (35.87±0.24 kg) followed by Bellary(31.81±0.22 kg), Hassan (28.28±0.34 kg) and Mandya(26.78±0.21 kg). Similar results were observed in bodylength, height at withers and chest girth except that theheight at withers was higher in Hassan than the Mandyarams. Ear length in Kenguri ewes was highest followed byHassan, Bellary and Mandya, although the differencebetween Bellary and Mandya was nonsignificant. In rams,ear length was highest in Kenguri followed by Hassan,Bellary and Mandya. The mean ear length of Kenguri wassignificantly different from mean ear length of Bellary andMandya whereas the differences were non-significantbetween Kenguri and Hassan, and between Bellary andMandya. Tail length in ewes was longest in Bellary followedby Hassan, Kenguri and Mandya but pairwise differenceswere non-significant between Kenguri and Hassan, andKenguri and Mandya. In rams the descending order wasBellary, Kenguri, Hassan and Mandya but pairwisedifferences were significant only between Bellary andMandya. The tail was longest in Bellary and smallest inMandya in both the sexes.Age-wise analysis of morphometric traits indicated thebody weight of Kenguri ewes to be significantly higher thanother 3 sheep breeds in all 4 age groups. All pairwisedifferences were significantly different (P<0.05) exceptbetween Hassan and Mandya ewes in 2T, 4T and 6T agegroups. The body weight of Kenguri rams was significantlyhigher (P<0.05) than Bellary rams across all the age groupswhereas the differences were non-significant betweenHassan and Mandya across the 4 age groups. The possiblereasons could be small sample size and large variation inbody biometry of rams as ascribed to their selection andmanagemental differences varying from farmer to farmer.Body length in ewes was maximum in Kenguri breedhttps://doi.org/10.56093/ijans.v84i8.43293August 2014] MORPHOMETRIC TRAITS OF SHEEP BREEDS OF KARNATAKA 917109and minimum in Mandya across all age groups except 2T.Differences in body length were non significant in Hassanand Mandya ewes except 8T age group. Height at witherswas maximum in Kenguri sheep followed by Bellary,Hassan and Mandya across the sexes. Pair-wise differenceswere significant in ewes except in 2T age group betweenKenguri and Bellary where the differences were non-significant. In males, nonsignificant differences in heightat withers were observed between Hassan and Mandyabreeds in all age groups except 6T. Similarly, chest girthwas maximum in Kenguri ewes followed by Bellary, Hassanand Mandya except in 2T whereas in rams it was maximumin Kenguri followed by Bellary, Mandya and Hassan in 2Tand 8T age groups. In the foregoing order Hassan wasfollowed by Mandya in 4T and 6T age groups but the pair-wise differences between Hassan and Mandya in all agegroups were nonsignificant (P<0.05). The ear and tail werelongest in Kenguri and Bellary, respectively and smallestin Mandya in both sexes. No increase in ear and tail lengthswas observed with the advancement of age from 2T to 8Tacross the sexes. The findings of this study are similar togrowth pattern in Muzaffarnagri sheep (Yadav et al. 2012).The observed differences in morphometric traits can be usedfor objective differentiation of animals of these sheepbreeds. The results will be helpful in selection, improvementand prioritization of breeds for conservation.SUMMARYThe study revealed that the 4 sheep breeds of Karnatakadiffered significantly with respect to body weight and otherTable 1. Descriptive statistics of the morphometric traits of sheep breeds of KarnatakaTrait Ewes RamsAge Kenguri Bellary Hassan Mandya Kenguri Bellary Hassan MandyaMean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E. Mean S.E.± Mean S.E.Body weight 2T 33.2a 0.61 29.1b 1.25 24.5c 0.70 25.0c 0.58 50.8e 1.98 37.6f 1.90 29.2g 1.19 33.1fg 1.324T 34.3a 0.56 29.7b 0.51 26.1c 0.75 25.7c 0.47 49.4e 1.87 39.7f 1.27 32.4g 1.07 31.3g 1.136T 36.6a 0.61 31.4b 0.55 26.5c 0.75 26.6c 0.40 53.6e 1.40 41.7f 1.28 36.3fg 3.06 35.0g 1.628T 36.6a 0.31 32.5b 0.26 30.0c 0.41 27.7d 0.29 54.4e 1.55 46.7f 0.67 37.9g 1.59 40.8g 1.03All 35.9a 0.24 31.8b 0.22 28.3c 0.34 26.8d 0.21 52.6e 0.86 43.0f 0.62 32.8h 0.86 37.2g 0.85Body length 2T 66.2a 0.39 65.0a 1.00 59.87b 0.50 60.1b 0.49 74.9e 1.32 67.4f 1.27 63.9f 1.03 67.8f 0.704T 66.4a 0.42 64.9b 0.38 61.3c 0.67 59.6c 0.39 73.5e 1.00 68.2f 0.90 62.7g 1.41 66.0fg 1.866T 68.3a 0.32 65.4b 0.35 60.8c 0.58 59.7c 0.36 75.0e 0.84 70.0f 0.79 67.5f 1.55 67.5f 1.048T 67.5a 0.19 65.8b 0.17 62.9c 0.25 61.4d 0.24 75.1e 0.70 72.1f 0.42 65.7h 1.07 69.4g 0.73All 67.3a 0.15 65.6b 0.14 62.0c 0.22 60.5d 0.17 74.7e 0.45 70.2f 0.39 64.3h 0.66 68.3g 0.51Height at 2T 72.1a 0.45 69.6a 0.95 60.0b 0.79 53.8c 0.56 81.0e 0.86 72.2f 1.15 63.6g 0.94 60.8g 1.58withers 4T 72.1a 0.40 69.1b 0.35 60.3c 0.81 54.0d 0.56 79.8e 1.17 73.1f 0.50 63.2g 1.12 62.5g 1.586T 72.7a 0.38 68.9b 0.33 60.1c 0.68 53.5d 0.44 82.3e 0.55 74.1f 0.74 69.5f 2.95 62.5g 1.738T 72.7a 0.17 68.8b 0.15 61.2c 0.26 55.3d 0.28 82.0e 0.75 76.0f 0.38 65.6g 1.10 62.6g 0.68All 72.6a 0.14 68.9b 0.13 60.8c 0.24 54.4d 0.21 81.5e 0.43 74.5f 0.33 64.4g 0.63 62.3h 0.60Chest girth 2T 76.1a 0.55 74.2a 1.04 67.0b 0.83 68.1b 0.63 86.9e 1.30 78.7f 1.30 72.0g 0.93 75.9fg 1.454T 76.7a 0.50 74.5b 0.41 69.8c 0.91 68.0c 0.60 87.4e 1.24 81.1f 0.90 75.3g 1.02 74.0g 1.126T 78.9a 0.47 75.8b 0.44 70.4c 0.72 68.6c 0.50 90.4e 0.89 82.0f 0.73 78.8fg 2.59 77.2g 1.508T 79.1a 0.25 76.5b 0.20 73.8c 0.43 70.5d 0.31 90.6e 0.89 84.6f 0.55 79.1g 1.41 82.2fg 0.85All 78.4a 0.20 76.1b 0.17 71.9c 0.37 69.4d 0.23 89.4e 0.54 82.5f 0.42 75.2h 0.73 79.2g 0.74Ear length 2T 15.4a 0.20 14.4ab 0.86 14.8a 0.20 13.2b 0.23 15.9e 0.34 13.4e 0.85 14.3e 0.17 13.4e 0.624T 15.0a 0.20 12.9b 0.43 14.4a 0.16 12.3b 0.23 15.0e 0.38 13.7e 0.68 14.1e 0.30 12.8e 0.796T 15.2a 0.21 13.3b 0.43 14.0ab 0.27 12.7b 0.19 15.4e 0.20 13.6f 0.60 13.3ef 1.25 13.7ef 0.518T 15.3a 0.08 13.2c 0.20 14.0b 0.14 13.3bc 0.11 14.8e 0.22 12.9f 0.44 14.1ef 0.45 12.2f 0.29All 15.2a 0.07 13.2c 0.17 14.2b 0.10 13.0c 0.09 15.2e 0.14 13.3f 0.30 14.1ef 0.18 12.8f 0.24Tail length 2T 10.4a 0.22 11.3a 0.38 10.2ab 0.24 9.6b 0.14 12.1e 0.50 12.9e 0.31 11.7e 0.65 10.8e 0.524T 10.0b 0.25 11.4a 0.15 10.3b 0.40 9.8b 0.11 11.9e 0.42 12.3e 0.31 11.4e 0.48 10.5e 0.676T 10.4b 0.17 11.2a 0.16 10.0b 0.18 9.9b 0.10 12.5e 0.45 12.3e 0.23 11.5ef 0.86 10.2f 0.298T 10.0c 0.10 11.2a 0.07 10.5b 0.11 10.0c 0.08 11.7ef 0.35 12.6e 0.20 11.2f 0.45 11.0f 0.29All 10.1bc 0.08 11.2a 0.06 10.3b 0.09 9.9c 0.05 12.0ef 0.22 12.5e 0.13 11.5fg 0.31 10.7g 0.202T: 2-tooth, 4T: 4-tooth, 6T: 6-tooth, 8T: 8-tooth, All: overall pooled over age groups; abcd, different superscripts within a rowindicate significant difference for the trait (ewes); efgh, different superscripts within a row indicate significant difference for the trait(rams).918 JAIN ET AL. [Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 84 (8)110physical traits. Kenguri and Bellary breeds of sheep werelarger and heavier than Hassan and Mandya sheep breeds.Amongst them Kenguri rams were heaviest followed byBellary, Mandya and Hassan but in ewes the above orderwas reversed in breeds of southern Karnataka. The overalldifference in body weights of Kenguri and Bellary ramswas 9.66 kg whereas in Hassan and Mandya rams it was4.37 kg. The corresponding values in ewes were 4.06 kgand 1.5 kg. In ewes, the increase in magnitude of amorphometric trait from a lower age group to next higherage group was marginal. All the sheep breeds of Karnatakaattained maximum weight at 8-tooth age.REFERENCESJain A, Kulkarni V S, Govindaiah M G, Sadana D K,Aswathnarayan T, Pandey A K, Kumar D, Sharma R and SinghG. 2005. Sheep Genetic Resources of India: Bellary.Monograph, National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources,Karnal, India.Jain A, Sadana D K, Govindaiah M G, Kulkarni V S,Aswathnarayan T, Pandey A K, Kumar D, Sharma, R andSingh, G. 2005a. Sheep Genetic Resources of India: Mandya.Monograph, National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources,Karnal, India.Jain A, Kulkarni V S Govindaiah M G Sadana D K,Aswathnarayan T, Pandey A K, Kumar D, Sharma R andAhlawat S P S. 2006. Sheep Genetic Resources of India:Kenguri. Monograph, National Bureau of Animal GeneticResources, Karnal, India.Jain A, Govindaiah M G, Sadana D K, Kulkarni V S,Aswathnarayan T, Pandey K, Sharma, R, Kumar, D andAhlawat, S P S. 2006a. Sheep Genetic Resources of India:Hassan. Monograph, National Bureau of Animal GeneticResources, Karnal, India.SAS, 2009. SAS/STAT User's Guide, Release 9.2. SAS InstituteInc., Cary, NC, USA.Yadav D K, Jain A, Singh G, Arora R and Bhatia S. 2012. Acomparison of body biometry traits of Munjal andMuzaffarnagri sheep under field conditions. Indian Journal ofAnimal Sciences 82 (2): 216–19.

A comparison of morphometric traits of sheep breeds of Karnataka in the farmers' flocks

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A comparison of morphometric traits of sheep breeds of Karnataka in the farmers' flocks

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