Evaluation of growth, wool production and reproduction traits of Muzaffarnagari sheeps

Muzaffarnagari, the heaviest breed among 43 Indian sheep breeds, is originally distributed in and around Muzaffarnagar district of western Uttar Pradesh and also in some parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi states. Muzaffarnagari is a mutton type breed because the wool production is low and wool quality is very course, not suitable for carpet manufacture. To study the impact of various factors on production and reproduction traits, the data on 1080 Muzaffarnagari lambs born under Network Project on Sheep Improvement during years 2011–15 at ICAR-Central Institute for Research on Goats, Makhdoom, Farah, Mathura (UP) were recorded for growth traits i.e. body weights at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 month age, wool production traits viz. greasy fleece yields of lambs in first & second six monthly clips and reproduction traits viz. tupping, lambing on available basis, lambing on bred basis, twinning and replacement rate of ewes. The overall least squares means for body weights at birth, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months age were 3.55±0.02, 16.02±0.12, 24.46±0.18,