ABSTRACT
An investigation of perinatal mortality in Dachigam Sheep Breeding Farm,, Kashmir
(India) was conducted from January 2002 to December 2009. The aim of the study was to
determine whether lambs born in different seasons manifest a different diseases and mortality
rate. The lambing seasons were grouped after birth month of lambs as winter (December-
February), spring (March-May), summer (June-August) and autumn (September-November). A
total of 1842 lambs were born during 2002-2009. A mortality of 9.77% (180 cases) was
recorded due to infectious and non-infectious causes. Mortality due to infectious causes was
higher (7.55%) than non-infectious causes (2.23%). Among the infectious causes mortality was
higher due to pneumonia (3.75%) followed by enteritis (1.95%). Wild attacks (1.36%) and
hypothermia (0.27%) was also an important cause of mortality during the study period. Seasonal
impact on mortality was highest during winter (33.33%) and followed by summer (29.44%).