Kosali is small-sized, draft purpose cattle breed of Chhattisgarh. Farmers prefer bullocks of this breed for cleaning of weeds from paddy field. Animals are known for very efficient working ability and high disease resistance.
Kosali was registered as the 36th breed. Characterization is essential to guide decision-making in livestock development and breeding programmes. Hence, a survey was carried out to characterize the Kosali breed of cattle in the Central Plain Region of Chhattisgarh state. The coat colour of most animals was red followed by white and black. Mostly muzzles, tail switch, eyelashes, and hooves were black. Body size, hump, dewlap, naval flap, penis sheath flap, udder and teats were small in size. Horns were stumpy, small and slightly inward and ears were horizontal. The estimated average live weight of adult females and males were 168.7±2.82 and 212.5±3.8 kg, respectively. The mean linear measurements of female vs male Kosali cattle were height at wither (99.79±2.76 vs 103.4±2.11 cm), body length (96.56±1.87 vs 99.89±2.32 cm) and chest girth (119.98±1.98 vs 137.12±2.8 cm). Kosali cattle are smaller in size and are well adapted to the existing agroclimatic conditions of the region. Appropriate breeding strategies and conservation models should be designed for the overall improvement of this breed.