Morphological characterization and the relationship between morphometric indices of a local Cyprus fat–tailed Sheep breed in Cyprus

Abstract

With many local breeds in danger of extinction or genetic erosion, the loss of genetic variety in farm animal genetic resources is an increasingly critical concern. Conserving diverse sheep breeds is crucial for long–term agricultural sustainability and ecosystem health. The current research focused on the Cyprus fat–tailed sheep, which is important for both meat and milk production, particularly to produce Halloumi cheese. A study on a Cyprus sheep production farm was carried out with the aim to characterize the morphological traits of Cyprus fat–tailed sheep breed for its conservation. The study found that in female Cyprus fat–tailed sheep, white, white–black, and brown coat color patterns were the common ones recorded with proportions of 75, 12.5, and 12.5%, respectively. Sixty seven percent of males were white–black followed by white coat color in 33%. Male sheep are all characterized by white fleece, while females had a range of fleece colors with the majority in white (75%) followed by pale greyish brown in 18.75% and fawn fleece in 6.25%. On the other hand, male Cyprus fat–tailed sheep had higher values (P<0.05) for wither height, heart girth, chest width, hip height, foreleg length, compact index, area index, and body weight than females. Morphometric traits, such as head length, wither height, heart girth, chest depth, body length, and hip height, were significantly positively (P<0.01) correlated with body weight. The study concludes that the characterization of the Cyprus fat–tailed sheep breed’s physical and morphological traits is essential and useful for its conservation.