KATCHAIKATTY BLACK – A UNIQUE INDIGENOUS SHEEPBREED OF TAMIL NADU, INDIAR. SELVAMAbstract Katchaikatty Black Sheep is a registered indigenous breed of sheep, native to the Madurai district of Tamil Nadu. It is also called Katchaikatty Karuppuaadu and Muttaadu. The breed is reared mainly for meat, manure, penning and sheep hair. Rams are widely popular for Ram-fight during village festivals or sports. The animals are medium sized with compact body and hair colour is completely black. Coat type is hairy. Face is modest in length, concave and have depression. Tail is petite and lean. Rams have twisted horns and ewes are polled. Ears of the breed are very peculiar as rudimentary and or leaf like ears. The breed is identified based on size of ear and horn and called as diverse categories viz. Mooli Adu, Sonaiyadu, Ilaikattu Adu, Kenambadu. The overall mean body weight of the sheep is 35.75 kg and 26.74 kg for male and female, respectively. For conservation of this breed, In-situ and Ex-Situ approaches can be considered and more prominence should be given to In-situ conservation at farmer stages by planning community based selective breeding. |