Adaptability of fat-tailed, avishaan and malpura sheep to summer stress in semi-arid region

Abstract

A study was conducted to compare the potential of fat-tailed Avishaan and Malpura sheep to the summer stress in semi-arid region under stall-feeding. Fat-tailed sheep had significantly (p<0.01) higher respiration rate, RR (71.83±2.94/min) and pulse rate, PR (79.44±1.59/min) than Avishaan (RR- 65.06±2.09/min, PR- 74.61±1.79/min) and Malpura (RR- 62.06±2.37/min, PR-74.78±1.61/min) during summer season. However, rectal temperature RT remained nonsignificant among the different genotypes. Cholesterol (26.70±1.70 mg/dl), chloride (97.50±4.62 mMol/L) and blood urea (17.90±1.07 mg%) were significantly (p<0.05) higher in fat-tailed than Avishaan (15.10±2.16, 86.80±1.79 and 10.50±1.31) and Malpura (13.90±1.13, 88.70±0.80 and 12.20±1.76) sheep during summer. Dry matter and water intakes did not differ significantly (p>0.05) among the genotypes. The study suggested that fat-tailed and Avishaan sheep introduced in semi-arid region of Rajasthan efficiently alter their physio-biochemical responses similar to native Malpura sheep to cope with the summer stress.