On-Farm Phenotypic Characterization of Native Sheep Types in North Wollo Zone, Northern Ethiopia

3 Abstract: This study was aimed to generate organized information on physical characteristics of native sheep types in Habru and Gubalafto districts of North Wollo Zone under smallholders' management conditions. The study was performed based on field measurements. Body measurements were taken from 450 sheep of both sexes. Dentition was used to estimate the age of the sheep. In the Habru sheep, unlike to Gubalafto, coat hair type is hairy and it is short. The fat tail has wide base and reaches near the point of hock. Horn is absent in 90% of the males and 100% females. Majority of the animals have plain brown coat color (40.9%) and they are docile in temperament. Average observed heart girth, wither height, body length and scrotal circumferences for male sheep were 73.4, 63.5, 59.7 and 22.7 cm, respectively, while that for female sheep, was 67.5 for heart girth, 57.4 for wither height and 55.9 for body length. Male sheep in the Habru district weighed about 28.1kg where as female sheep weighed about 24.0 kg. Indigenous sheep in Gubalafto, however, had mainly plain coat color pattern (67.5%) and about 35.7% of the sheep showed black coat color type. The body is compact and mostly covered with coarse medium hair with a wooly undercoat. About 87.5% of rams have curved horns with backwards as the dominant horn orientation while ewes are usually hornless. Average observed heart girth, wither height, body length and scrotal circumferences for male sheep were 70.0, 64.7, 57.4 and 24.5 cm, respectively, while that for female sheep it was 66.6 for heart girth, 61.8 for wither height and 53.2 cm for body length and male sheep weighed about 25.9 kg where as female sheep weighed about 22.6 kg. For males and females, most individuals were classified into their source population. The present phenotypic information could be complemented with genetic analyses; and serve as a basis for designing appropriate conservation, breeding and selection strategies for sheep. For any breed improvement program and to boost productivity of indigenous sheep, characterization is the baseline so; this preliminary work could be used to support genetic analyses to determine variation between and within these small populations.