Mandya / Bannur / Bandur sheep

Unique Characteristics of Sheep

1. Strong herd instincts of sheep make them excellent ranch animals as they keep together in tight and easily managed flocks and do not disperse widely all over the available land, which would make it difficult to protect them from predators and difficult to round up.
2. Excellent ability to survive over a prolonged period of drought and semi-starvation
3. Sheep have the ability to produce prime carcasses on roughage alone, thus they are well adapted to many areas unable to produce grain profitably.
4. The structure of their lips helps them to clean grains lost at harvest time, and thus convert waste feed into profitable products
5. Less prone to extreme weather conditions, ectoparasites as well as other diseases
6. Unique ever-growing fibre which allows ventilation and also protects the skin from the hot sun, rain and abrasions
7. Sheep can also constrict or relax blood vessels in the face, legs and ear for control of heat loss
8. Their visual sense is exceedingly well-developed ….. they can discern movement far better than humans, but cannot distinguish shapes as well as man
9. Sheep do not need expensive buildings to house them
10. Sheep require less labour than other kinds of livestock

Because of their hardiness and adaptability to dry conditions, the north-western and southern peninsular regions of the country have a large concentration of sheep. In the tropics, they are non-seasonal breeders and can be made to lamb throughout the year.

Because of their close grazing nature and ability to utilize very low-set vegetation which no other animal can utilize and their capacity to cover long distances in search of forage and water, they have often been generally associated with desertification. In reality, it is not the sheep but the man who owns the sheep, who is to be blamed for the misconceived management of the grazing lands, leading to desertification. Rather, a controlled and judicious grazing on the non-cultivable land could prevent soil erosion and make it fertile and suitable for crop production through sheep dropping collected over the years.

There is great variation in the external characteristics of sheep, manifested in the number and form of horns in the shape and size of ears, in an arching of nasal bones in some types, in length of tail and in the development of great masses of fat at the base of the tail and other posterior parts of the body. There are extreme variations too in colour of the face and other parts not covered with wool. Great variations exist in the quality and colour of the fleece. These variations have provided the basis for improving sheep for different products viz. wool, mutton and pelt. Variations in wool were pronounced with respect to colour, staple length, fineness and other characteristics. The wool on the shoulder is finer than that grows on the thigh, belly and around the tail. Wool that grows on the folds in the skin is likely to be considerably coarser than that which grows between the folds.

Advantages of Sheep Farming

1. Multi-faceted utility : meat, wool, skin, manure, and to some extent milk & transport … helps it to play an important role in the Indian agrarian economy
2. The production of wool, meat and manure provides three different sources of income per year
3. Since the two major products of sheep (wool and mutton) are entirely different in their production and utilization, the price of one may not necessarily have a bearing on the other. Wool may be stored and held for higher prices or sold at shearing time. A crop of lambs may be marketed from 5-6 months onwards (preferably before one year), bringing rather a quick return.
4. Mutton is one kind of meat towards which there is no prejudice by any community in India
5. In addition to wool, mutton and to some extent milk, sheep provide employment to about 3 million people in the form of self-employment, as hired labour for tending flocks during migration, and persons engaged in wool shearing and in wool and skin processing. Furthermore, sheep farming is a logical source of livelihood in arid zones where crop production is an uncertainty and thus it suitably fits into desert development programmes in vogue by protecting them from the vagaries of drought and famine.
6. Most suitable of the small ruminants to utilize the sparse vegetation in dryland areas through rangeland management and developed (reseeded) pasture
7. Unlike goats, sheep hardly damage any tree
8. Better adapted to arid and semi-arid tropics with marginal and sub-marginal lands, otherwise unfit for crops, due to their superior water & feed (esp. protein) economy
9. Since sheep eat more different type of plants than any other kind of livestock, they can turn waste into profit and at the same time improve the appearance of many farms (i.e. excellent weed destroyer).
10. Sheep dung is a valuable fertilizer, and since they are grazed on sub-marginal lands, their droppings are the only means of improving the growth of plants in such areas

Introduction to Sheep Husbandry

Few countries in the world have no sheep. They are found in tropical countries and in the arctic, in hot climates and in the cold, on the desert and in humid areas. There are over 800 breeds of sheep in the world, in a variety of sizes, shapes, types and colours.

Sheep were domesticated long before the dawn of recorded history. Wool fibres have been found in remains of primitive villages of Switzerland that date back an estimated 20000 years. Egyptian sculpture dating 4000-5000 B.C. portrays the importance of this species to people. Much mention is made in the Bible of flocks, shepherds, sacrificial lambs, and garments made of wool. The Roman empire prized sheep, anointed them with special oils, and combed their fleece to produce fine quality fibres that were woven into fabric for the togas of the elite.

Perhaps the first ruminants domesticated by man along with goats, sheep are a very valuable and important asset to mankind.

Classification of domesticated sheep : phylum Chordata (backbone), class Mammalia (suckle their young), order Artiodactyla (hooved, even-toed), family Bovidae(ruminants), genus Ovis (domestic and wild sheep), and species Ovis aries


Domestication:-

"It is hard to imagine a wild animal more readily tamed than wild sheep". Little is known about the original selection and domestication of sheep, but they are thought to have descended from wild types like the Moufflon, a short-tailed sheep. Wild varieties in Europe and Asia probably served as foundation stock to produce wool, meat, skins and milk. It appears that selection practices not only removed most of the wild instincts, leaving the species completely dependant on people for management and protection, but the tail also lengthened. Nearly all domestic sheep today have long tails before docking.

As weaving and felting began to develop as an important element in the advancement of civilization, more definite types and breeds of sheep began to emerge to produce quality fibres at the expense of other traits. The Merino breed of Spain developed into one of the first recognizable fine wool breeds. It was so prized that the King of Spain made it a crime punishable by death to send any out of the country without his permission.

The English also developed many breeds very early that would adapt to their varying climate. Domestic sheep were foreign to the New World and were first introduced by Columbus on his second voyage in 1493 to the West Indies. Cortez brought sheep into Mexico in 1519, and Spanish missionaries contributed to their popularity through the teaching of weaving arts to the Indians.

The taxonomy and nomenclature of sheep and goats is very complicated, esp. that of sheep where altogether at least 40 wild races have been described. There are, however, eight basic taxonomic groups of sheep that may be summarized as follows:

Ovis nivicola (Siberian snow sheep)
Ovis aries (domestic sheep)
Ovis musimon (European mouflon)
Ovis orientalis (Asiatic mouflon)
Ovis dalli (dall or thin-horned sheep)
Ovis canadensis (bighorn sheep)
Ovis ammon (arkhar-argali / Marco Polo sheep)
Ovis vignei (urial)

Sheep in India and Arabia have originated from their wild ancestor Ovis orientale vignei … domesticated in the mountains of Iran, Turkistan & Balochistan. Reference to their role in the economy of mankind is found in the history of civilization of Mesopotamia, Mohenjodaro and Harappa.

Wild sheep of various races have similar social behaviour. Males older than two years are normally found in groups of their own, segregated from the females and juveniles. They follow the largest horned ram in their band and females follow one of the mature lambed females.