Abstract
The Karadi sheep which comprises about 18-20% of the country sheep population is native to the northern mountain villages and undulating dry-farming plains of Kurdistan region. Rams and ewes are polled, and it is fat tailed animal with an excessively large tail that ends in a thin nonfat terminal extended beyond the fat lobs. The sheep are white with black open face and pendulous ear. The black color often extends to the shoulders and other parts of the body. All Iraqi sheep including Awassi, Arabi and Karadi were exposed over a long period of time to the rigorous and sever semi-dry condition, drought, feed shortage and prevailing disease. Hence their adaptation to the conditions of the country was at the expend of important economic traits. Karadi sheep is hardy with potentials for improvement, their weight and milk display over whelming ranges. In addition, hormonal treatment have improved their reproduction performance, as well as crossing them with other native and exotic breeds is promising. Nevertheless, this breed is not well characterized and much work is needed to explore the potential of this breed for economic traits.
