Wool characteristics of Batur sheep in Banjarnegara District, Central Java

Abstract

The study's objective was to investigate the different types of coat cover from Batur sheep of Banjarnegara district in Central Java using 113 sheep belongs to 13 people member of Mulya Jaya farmers group. Sheep were raised at the centre of horticulture at the Batur-Dieng plateau. The main vegetable type planted in the area were carrot, potato and cabbage. The variables observed in the study were wool cover (score 1-9), the length of wool (cm), breed, sex, age and sheep body weight (kg). The data were analyzed using a general linear model, with the dependent variable were body weight and wool length whereas the independent variable were sex, location of the study, farmers, breed, sex and age. The result showed that 77.9% of sheep has wool distribution (score =0), most of the sheep (98.2%) has white color and only very small percentage has black, brown color. The average body weight and wool length of Batur sheep was 41.4 kg (range 15-97 kg) and 6.97 cm (range 4-17 cm), respectively, and there was a significant (P<0.05) influence of farmers, breed, sex and age. The Batur sheep is a wool type sheep and still maintain the characteristic of merino sheep.