Multivariate study of body conformation in Munjal sheep

Munjal, a muttontype sheep, is popular among the farmers for their heavy body weight. The animals have massive body with a dark brown face. The study reports an assessment of type characteristics of Munjal sheep and their association with body weight. Measurements were recorded on nine morphological characteristics, two zoometric indices and adult body weight on 91 ewes and 36 rams of Munjal breed maintained at sheep farm of LUVAS, Hisar. The adult body weight in females and males was estimated as 35.28±0.61 and 45.00±0.82 kg, respectively. The height, length, heart girth and paunch girth in females were estimated as 71.07±0.34, 70.43±0.41, 80.29±0.42 and 81.93±0.55 cm, respectively. The corresponding estimates in males were obtained as 73.97±0.62, 74.08±0.73, 86.92±0.70 and 89.22±0.72 cm, respectively. The face length and head circumference in ewes were 20.81±0.12 and 44.67±0.20 cm while the corresponding estimates in rams were 23.36±0.23 and 48.50±0.41 cm, respectively. The body index in ewes and rams was 87.80 and 85.27 per cent, respectively pointing towards the rectangular body shape and an indication of better conformation for meat production. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that body weight can be predicted with higher accuracy by incorporating body length and heart girth of the animal under field conditions without weighing scale.