Growth rate and wool production of Marwari lambs under arid region of Rajasthan

Marwari breed, an important carpet wool producing sheep breed of India, is well adapted to harsh and erratic climatic conditions of hot arid region, and has capacity to cover large area during migration. The present study was conducted to evaluate growth and wool production of Marwari lambs in an organized farm under hot arid climate of Rajasthan. The data on 981 lambs born during 2004-07 were utilized for assessing production potential of Marwari sheep maintained at the Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute, Arid Region Campus, Bikaner. The overall least squares means for birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months weight of lambs were 2.93 +/- 0.01, 15.88 +/- 0.09, 22.59 +/- 0.12, 28.22 +/- 0.11 and 30.44 +/- 0.12 kg, respectively. The effects of sex, type of birth and year of lambing were highly significant on all the body weights. The improvement in the body weights at all stages was observed during the period under study. The overall least squares means for first and second six monthly greasy fleece weights were 596.93 +/- 5.48 and 675.43 +/- 7.46 g, respectively. The greasy fleece yield was significantly affected by year, type of birth and sex of lamb. The overall least squares means of fibre diameter, hetro fibres, hairy fibres, medullation, staple length and crimps were 33.56 +/- 0.26 mu, 36.00 +/- 0.70%, 17.66 +/- 0.43%, 53.66 +/- 0.85%, 5.15 +/- 0.05 cm and 0.66 +/- 0.01 per cm, respectively. It was concluded that there was an improvement in growth and wool production in the Marwari sheep due to selection programme being applied in the Network Project on sheep.