~ 133 ~ International Journal of Fauna and Biological Studies 2018; 5(2): 133-135 ISSN 2347-2677 IJFBS 2018; 5(2): 133-135 Received: 01-01-2018 Accepted: 05-02-2018 RK Taggar Division of Animal Genetic and Breeding, FVSc&AH, SKUAST- Jammu, R. S. Pura- 181 102, Jammu & Kashmir, India D Chakraborty Division of Animal Genetic and Breeding, FVSc&AH, SKUAST- Jammu, R. S. Pura- 181 102, Jammu & Kashmir, India D Kumar Division of Animal Genetic and Breeding, FVSc&AH, SKUAST- Jammu, R. S. Pura- 181 102, Jammu & Kashmir, India V Vohra ICAR-NBAGR, Karnal, Haryana, India MS Tantia ICAR-NBAGR, Karnal, Haryana, India Arjava Sharma ICAR-NBAGR, Karnal, Haryana, India Correspondence RK Taggar Division of Animal Genetic and Breeding, FVSc&AH, SKUAST- Jammu, R. S. Pura- 181 102, Jammu & Kashmir, India Wool characteristics of poonchi sheep RK Taggar, D Chakraborty, D Kumar, V Vohra, MS Tantia and Arjava Sharma Abstract A total of 168 wool samples of Poonchi sheep of both sexes were collected randomly and analyzed for different wool production traits at Fleece testing laboratory, Kartholi, Jammu. The wool traits included in the present study were crimps per inch (CPI), staple length (SL) (cm), clean wool yield (CWY) (%), fibre diameter (FD) (μ), medullation (M) (%), wool count (WC) (no.) and range in diameter (RD) (μ).Wool colour in Poonchi sheep was white, black and different shades of black and white. The overall averages for CPI, SL, CWY, FD, M, WC and RD lower & RD upper were 8.67±0.18, 3.82±0.07 cm, 63.14±0.23%, 24.99±0.13 μ, 2.22±0.19%, 58.13±0.17 nos and 11.75±0.07 & 39.74±0.31, respectively. The Co-efficient of variations (CV) for all the traits under study was very low to medium. The highest CV (%) was obtained for medullation. The correlation values ranges from -0.691 between FD and WC to 0.654 between CPI and M. The values of analysis of wool parameters suggested that wool of Poonchi sheep is of moderate fine type. Keywords: Fibre diameter, staple length, Poonchi sheep, correlation, wool traits Introduction Poonchi is an indigenous sheep breed of Jammu & Kashmir state. The breeding tract of Poonchi sheep is mainly Poonch district and adjacent districts Rajouri and Reasi of Jammu province. Poonchi sheep is locally known as Pahari and Desi sheep and mainly reared by nomadic community of Jammu & Kashmir districts namely Gujjar, Bakerwals and Pahari. Poonchi sheep is maintained by the farmers without any scientific management and breeding practices on depleted pasture. The sheep is mainly reared by the people for mutton and wool production. This sheep population is migratory in nature. Poonchi sheep is small to medium in sized with white, black and different shades of white and black body colour. Shearing is mainly performed only once before migration to highland pasture. Very scanty information is available regarding the wool characteristics of this sheep breed. The present study will be helpful to formulate the breeding strategies and conservation strategies of this breed. Therefore, the present study was under taken to evaluate the wool characteristics of Poonchi sheep in the home tract under the network project. Materials and Methods A total of 168 wool samples of Poonchi sheep irrespective of sex were collected from different villages of Poonch, Rajouri and Reasi districts randomly. The wool samples were packed properly and brought to Fleece testing laboratory, Kartholi, Jammu, for further analysis. The wool traits included in the present study were crimps per inch (CPI), staple length (SL) (cm), clean wool yield (CWY) (%), fibre diameter (FD) (μ), medullation (M) (%), wool count (WC) (no.) and range in diameter (RD) (μ). The wool colour of obtained by visualising the colour of wool in day light. The mean, standard error, standard deviation, coefficient of variation and correlation co- efficient for different wool production traits were computed [1] . The standard error of phenotypic correlation was computed by the formula given below S.E. (rp) = [(1- rp 2 ) / (N-2)] Where, rp = phenotypic correlation N = number of observations