Sheep Breeds

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 Dual-purpose Sheep Breeds
• These breeds produce both meat and
wool
• Merino, Dohne Merion and Dorset
Horn are examples of dual-purpose
breeds of sheep

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 Dual-purpose Sheep Breeds: Merino
Breed characteristic:
• Excellent foragers with good food
conversion rate
Wool and meat quality:
• White wool that is free of kemp
Adaptation features:
• Adapted to wide climatic and grazing
conditions
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 Dual-purpose Sheep Breeds: Dorset Horn

Breed characteristics:
• Good body and muscle conformation
Wool and meat quality:
• Fleece is white and free of dark fibre
• Good meat quality
Adaptation features:
• Adapted to grazing and feedlot
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 General characteristics of wool breeds
• They have long legs for walking
• They are covered with wool on body
line
• Tales of wool sheep breeds are
normally docked

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 Mutton Sheep Breeds: Dorper
Breed characteristics:
• Efficient users of grass and shrubs
Meat quality:
• Produce quality lean carcasses
Adaptation features:
• Tolerate extreme temperatures

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Mutton Sheep Breeds: Damara
Breed characteristics:
• They are non-selective grazers
Meat quality:
• Meat is tender, juicy and tasty
Adaptation features:
• Hardy animal and survives in a wide
range of environments
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 General Characteristics of Mutton Breeds
• Good body with strong legs
• High growth rate
• Generally fertile
• Hardy and disease-resistant
• High meat conversion ratio
• Highly adaptable

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Pelt Sheep Breeds: Karakul Sheep
Breed characteristics:
• They are multi-purpose breed
Wool and pelt quality:
• Good quality wool and 1.8-2.7 kg is
produced per year per sheep
Adaptation features:
• Ability to forage and thrive in harsh
conditions
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Thank you

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