LES Farm Khizerabad

Livestock Experiment Station (LES) Khizerabad, District Sargodha is a 1600 acres Agriculture and Livestock farm administrated by Punjab Livestock & Dairy Development Board. LES is a center for the conservation of the Sahiwal Cattle & Kajli Sheep.There are about 1000 pure Sahiwal cow and about 1000 Kajlee Sheep.

There also some fodder crops like Maize, Alfa alfa, Rhodes grass, Lobia and Jenter at the LES Farm. LES farm is mechanized with latest machinery and adopt modern methods of Agri-Livestock.Some ongoing projects on the farm include Feedlot Fattening project, Alfa Alfa hey making, Maize silage and many others small initiatives are available at the farm to educate the students and practitioners visiting at the farm. A Genetic Improvement Center is also the part of the LES farm and PLDDB need government and high official attention to functionalize it.

There are about 1000 pure Sahiwal cows at LES Farm. The Sahiwal cattle breed is an important indigenous genetic resource of Pakistan. This breed originated and developed in this region decade ago, now also found in 29 other countries. Sahiwal cow is very well adapted to the harsh climatic condition of the region and have beneficial resistance to internal and external parasites and famous for adequate milk production under subsistence production set up, it has been exported to other countries both for rising as purebred and for the production of synthetics.

In Pakistan the population of Sahiwal breed has been decreasing over the years due mainly to its crossing with exotics such as Friesian for dairy purposes therefore a project sponsored by UNO has been started in Pakistan for Sahiwal conservation which is going on since 2005 very successful. The milk quality of Sahiwal cow is better than other imported breeds in Pakistan. Milk has several types of casein and beta casein. Scientist have classified Sahiwal cow milk as A2 which is healthier and nourishing for human health. It had several health benefits, and to be easier to digest for people who are lactose intolerant.

PLDDB is managing a herd of 1000 pure kajli sheep at LES for preservation & outreach purpose. Kajli sheep is a famous breed in the Sargodha district because of its beauty and weight gain capacity. This breed is also well known for its juicy mutton quality and males are especially reared for sale as sacrificial animals. It is called Kajli because sheep have typical black circle around the eyes are designed as Kajal. They have typical Roman nose, broad chest, long and pendulous ears, big head and short thin tail. PLDDB is used to conduct different experiments on sheep for better growth, and the same results are being disseminated to the farmers.

Sheep and goats are the major source of livelihood for over a million livestock farmers. There are more than 50.9 million heads of goats in Pakistan. The sub-optimal productivity of the existing flocks of goats is mainly attributed to low genetic potential, nutritional and manage-mental inadequacies. However, some breeds of goats in Pakistan, like Beetal, offer a high potential for meat and milk production. It is famous for its dairy characteristics as well as mutton production. Its males are especially preferred for sacrificial purposes. One of the traits of economic importance in goats is birth weight. The diversity in performance traits of goats may be attributed to several genetic and non-genetic factors. Although any programs of breed improvement is based on the maximum exploitation of genetic variation, yet these traits also vary due to certain environmental factors, e.g. climate and seasonal differences, sex of the kid, type of birth and age of the dam. It is therefore, imperative to estimate the magnitude of all such factors, so that the genetic variation among animals can be used to devise effective breeding plans for their improvement. The present investigation was thus planned to analyze the data on birth weight of Beetal goats kept at Livestock Experimentation Station (LES) Khizarabad, Sargodah in Punjab, Pakistan.