Majority of the Kargil sheep populations are indigenous. Very scanty information is available for morphological characterization of Purky sheep population. Therefore, the present study was undertaken with the objectives to study the morpho-metric characteristics and body measurements for phenotypic characterization of the local sheep. A stratified random sample survey was conducted on various parameters (horn size, tail size, chest girth, punch girth, body length, height at wither and body weight) in seven different age groups. Data were collected randomly from 510 sheep of either sex. The local sheep population of Kargil which was selected for the present investigation is named as &lsquo;Purky&rsquo; by the name of the community that reared this breed. In Purky sheep white body colour was predominant in both the sexes. The sheep breed was of low to medium body weight. The chest girth, punch girth, height at withers of Purky sheep showed it to be medium sized. Sex had significant effect (P&lt;0.05) on height at wither only. For males the least squares means were higher for all the traits of all age groups baring few exceptions. The phenotypic correlations of age groups with different morpho-metric traits were very high. The phenotypic correlations of &nbsp;body weight with other body measurements like tail size, chest girth, paunch girth, body length and height at wither were very high. Further studies should be carried out to fully exploit their genetic potential and to register the breed and in-situ conservation of this population. 
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Phenotypic characterization of Purky sheep population of Kargil district 
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Pashmina goats, normally reared by changpa, a nomadic tribe in Changthang region of Leh Ladakh have been introduced in Kargil District of J&amp;K state under the NAIP Pashmina Project with the objective of expansion of pashmina goat rearing area and enhancing the livelihood security of the farmers in these areas. Fifty one (51) mini farm units of goats, each comprising of 9 does and 1 buck were established in Kargil district (Suru, Bodhkharbu, Drass, Shakar, Chiktan and Khangriyal). The intervention in the form of shelter, feeding and health cover was provided to all the farm units. After two years of rearing, the average survivability and mortality was reported as 84.07&plusmn; 0.49 (%) and 15.93&plusmn; 0.49 (%) respectively. The overall kidding percentage was reported as 79.62&plusmn; 0.77 with kid mortality as 24.92&plusmn; 0.71(%). The pashmina yield/head was 161.6&plusmn; 0.31 (gms) with fibre diameter and fibre length of 14.07&plusmn;0.11 (&micro;) and 55.99&plusmn; 0.19 (mm) respectively. The average body weight (kg) of kids, hoggets and adults was reported as 2.63&plusmn; 0.09, 20.72&plusmn;0.19 and 28.87&plusmn; 0.12 respectively. The study revealed that the adaptability and production performance of pashmina goats in some of the areas of Kargil (Non Traditional Belt) which is having similar ecological niche as that of Changthang region (Traditional Belt) is very good in terms of survivability, kidding percentage, pashmina yield etc. Further, by adoption of pashmina goat rearing in these areas, there is an enhancement of livelihood security through sale of pashmina and increase in strength of livestock which is expected to reach worth Rs 250000 after 5 years and an increase in total production area of Pashmina from Ladakh..

Introduction and performance study of Pashmina goats in Kargil District&nbsp;(Non Traditional Area) of Jammu &amp; Kashmir, India

<div>Background: Purgi goats are native to Ladakh. They are used for fibre production and are known for the quality chevon. A study was, therefore, undertaken to study the effect of non-genetic factors on growth traits of Purgi Goats in its breeding tract. 
 
Methods: Flocks of 80 farmers from 8 villages of district Kargil were monitored to collect the data pertaining to growth traits during 2017 and 2018. The data so collected were suitably classified to study the major fixed effects like birth year, kid, parity of dam, season of birth and type of birth. 
 
Result: The averages were1.21&plusmn;0.02, 3.62&plusmn;0.02, 5.82&plusmn;0.02, 8.73&plusmn;0.03, 10.71&plusmn;0.04 and 13.49&plusmn;0.09 for BW, WW, 6MW, 9MW, 12MW and 18MW, respectively. The coefficients of variations of all the traits were low. Highest variability of 13.49 was observed for 18MW. The values of least squares means (LSM&rsquo;s) of 0.96&plusmn;0.05, 3.74&plusmn;0.03, 5.80&plusmn;0.05, 8.74&plusmn;0.06, 10.87&plusmn;0.08 and 13.91&plusmn;0.19 for birthweight (BW), weaning weight (WW), six months body weight (6MW), nine months weight (9MW), yearling body weight (12MW) and eighteen months (18MW) weight were observed in the present study. The effects of sex of kids, season of birth and year of birth were significant (p&lt;0.05) on all traits under study, whereas effect of birth-type was significant (p&lt;0.05) on BW and WW and effect of parity was non-significant on all traits under study. All the traits BW, WW and 6MW were positively correlated among themselves. The correlations ranged from low (between BW and WW ) to high (WW with 9MW and 12MW).</div>

Phenotypic characterization of Purky sheep population of Kargil district

Introduction and performance study of Pashmina goats in Kargil District (Non Traditional Area) of Jammu & Kashmir, India

Growth Performance of Purgi Goats under Field Conditions in Kargil District (Ladakh)