Muzaffarnagri

The Muzaffarnagri, also known as Bulandshahri is native to the Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshaher, Saharanpur, Meerut and the Bijnor districts of Western Uttar Pradesh.

Some are also found in the Dehradun, Haridwar and Chamoli districts of Uttarakhand. The breed is primarily maintained for meat, however, it also produces fleece of coarse carpet quality. The breed is one of the heaviest and largest of India’s sheep breeds and well adapted to irrigated areas. They are medium to large animals with a face line that is slightly convex. The face and body are white with occasional patches of brown or black. The ears and face are occasionally black. Both sexes are polled. Males sometimes show rudimentary horns. The ears are long and drooping. The tail is extremely long and reaches the fetlock. The fleece is white, coarse and open. The belly and legs are devoid of wool. Age at first lambing is between 16 to 18 months; lambing percentage ranges from 60 to 95%. The litter size is mostly single. Males are bred from within the flock and selected mainly on the basis of body size. Daily milk yield ranges from 300 to 500 ml with a lactation period of 120 to 180 days.  

The average annual greasy fleece weight is about 600 gm to 1 kg. According to the 18th Livestock Census of 2007, there are 48,927 Muzaffarnagri sheep in the country. (Refer to maps below) 

Text Source: NBAGR

Photo Source: CSWRI, Avikanagar