Livestock Research
Livestock Research | Online ISSN 3068-4625
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Volume 4 Number 1 2026
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Body Weight Trajectories, Cumulative Disease Incidence, and Mortality in Indigenous Barind Sheep: A 12-Month Longitudinal On-Farm Study under Smallholder Farming Systems in Bangladesh
Bobi Rani Paul 1*, Md. Akhtarul Islam 1, Rashida Khaton 1, Helena Aktar 1, Md. Reazul Islam 1, Md. Hemayatul Islam 1, and Md. Jalal Uddin Sarder 1
Livestock Research 4 (1) 1-8 https://doi.org/10.25163/livestock.4110796
Submitted: 13 April 2026 Revised: 17 June 2026 Accepted: 23 June 2026 Published: 25 June 2026
Abstract
Background: Indigenous Barind sheep remain one of Bangladesh's least-characterized smallholder livestock assets — valued by marginal farmers yet rarely subjected to systematic, longitudinal field investigation. Understanding their growth trajectory, flock dynamics, and disease burden under actual farm conditions is a prerequisite for any credible breeding or health-management programme. This study was designed to fill precisely that gap.
Methods: A 12-month prospective on-farm longitudinal study was conducted across 40 smallholder households in Paba, Godagari, and Rajshahi Metropolitan upazilas of Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh. A foundation cohort of 200 sheep (160 ewes, 40 rams; 5 animals per farmer) was established, and all offspring born during the study period were recorded. Body weight was measured at birth (day-old) and at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of age for 90 lambs (46 males, 44 females) selected by systematic random sampling from the 228 births. Disease events were recorded for the full monitored population (N = 428). Sex-based differences in body weight at each age point were evaluated using independent-samples t-tests; statistical significance was set at α = 0.05.
Results: Male and female lambs reached mean 12-month body weights of 15.84 ± 4.02 kg and 15.31 ± 3.03 kg, respectively — a difference that was numerically consistent but statistically non-significant at all six age points (all p > 0.05). The 228 births recorded over 12 months represented a crude lambing rate of 114% relative to the 160 foundation ewes, yielding a net flock expansion of 83%. Foundation stock mortality was 31.0% (62/200), attributable largely to pneumonia (25.8% of all disease events), gastrointestinal parasitic infections (24.2%), and malnutrition (19.4%). Cumulative disease incidence in the full population was 14.49% (62/428 animals).
Conclusion: Indigenous Barind sheep demonstrate meaningful reproductive productivity and weight gain under semi-intensive smallholder management, reaching approximately 15.5 kg by 12 months. However, a 31% foundation stock mortality — driven primarily by respiratory disease, helminthiasis, and nutritional gaps — represents a critical constraint. Integrating seasonal Pasteurella vaccination, post-monsoon fasciolicide treatment, and dry-season fodder supplementation into the management protocol could substantially reduce preventable losses and improve economic returns for marginal farming households.
Keywords: Barind sheep; disease incidence; growth performance; longitudinal on-farm study; smallholder livestock Bangladesh
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