Performances of grazing Lambs at different altitudes

The study was taken up to see the effect of low (5200 ft above sea level) and high (13000 ft above sea level) land pastures on the growth and wool production in Sheep. 40 Corriedale lambs (5–6 month old) were randomly divided into two equal groups (10 of each sex) on the basis of BW. Sheep maintained at a Research Station (low land) were referred as LLP, whereas, those shifted to high land/alpine pasture (during June-September) were referred as HLP and reared for 60 days. Animal in both the groups were allowed to graze for 8–10 hours without any concentrate feeding. Pasture at HLP were observed to be nutritious (P<0.05) than at LLP. Body weight gain, blood haemoglobin (Hb) and glucose of lambs reared at HLP was higher (P<0.05) than in animals reared at LLP. Wool yield and wool quality in terms of staple length, fiber diameter, number of crimps and scouring yield was better (P>0.05) at HLP than that at LLP. The results indicated that overall performance of sheep reared at highland pasture during summer was superior to those reared at lowland pasture.