The effects of mineral supplementations on the fleece weights and live weight gains were studied on twenty eight Polwarth weaners (av. age  = 337.8 days). They were randomly divided into four groups and were assigned four different treatments such as Vetlick adlibitum, sodium chloride (Nacl) ad libitum, redlick ad libitum and Nacl at every fifteen days interval (control). They were grazed in the daytime for 8 to 9 hours and were housed separately.In addition, 200 grams of barley grain per head per day was fed to the groups. The experiment lasted for 165 days (5.5 months) excluding two weeks of adjustment period. Conventional one way analysis of variance (Snedecor andCochran, 1980) was used to compare the  fleece yields and live weight gains between treatments. The average greasyfleece weight was found to be highest for the redlick group (889 gm/head) followed by Vetlick (861 gm/head) andcongrol group (851 gm/head). The Nacl(ad lib) group had tile lowest fleece  weight  (776 gm/head). In terms ofdaily gain redlick group showed the hightest value (2.32 gm/greasy wool/day) followed by Vetlick (1.85 gm/dlly).Nacl (ad lib) and control groups had comparable values ( 1.53 vs. 1.47). However, both fleece weights and averagedaily gains were not significantly different between treatments. In terms of daily live weight gains, similar trend wasobserved  like the fleece   weights except Nacl  (ad libJ group.  Thegains  were again highest for  the redlick group (127.90 gm/day) and Vetlick groups (127.29 gm/day). Nacl (ad lib) and control groups had lower values (111.35 vs. 110.39). Since there were no significant differences between treatments among the parameters measured, feedingvetlick to sheep during summer (March to Sept.) may not be economically beneficial. It also cuts considerable doubt about the benefit of vetlick which is indescriminately distributed to farmers by the district livestock services. Instead, redlick could be a better proposition in this region for summer. Otherwise usual farmers' practice of offer­ ing Nacl to sheep every fortnight can be considered appropriate considering the cost and labour involved in other methods. However, this needs to be studied for winter (October to February)period.

The effects of mineral supplementations on the fleece weights and live weight gains were studied on twenty eight Polwarth weaners (av. age  = 337.8 days). They were randomly divided into four groups and were assigned four different treatments such as Vetlick adlibitum, sodium chloride (Nacl) ad libitum, redlick ad libitum and Nacl at every fifteen days interval (control). They were grazed in the daytime for 8 to 9 hours and were housed separately.In addition, 200 grams of barley grain per head per day was fed to the groups. The experiment lasted for 165 days (5.5 months) excluding two weeks of adjustment period. Conventional one way analysis of variance (Snedecor andCochran, 1980) was used to compare the  fleece yields and live weight gains between treatments. The average greasyfleece weight was found to be highest for the redlick group (889 gm/head) followed by Vetlick (861 gm/head) andcongrol group (851 gm/head). The Nacl(ad lib) group had tile lowest fleece  weight  (776 gm/head). In terms ofdaily gain redlick group showed the hightest value (2.32 gm/greasy wool/day) followed by Vetlick (1.85 gm/dlly).Nacl (ad lib) and control groups had comparable values ( 1.53 vs. 1.47). However, both fleece weights and averagedaily gains were not significantly different between treatments. In terms of daily live weight gains, similar trend wasobserved  like the fleece   weights except Nacl  (ad libJ group.  Thegains  were again highest for  the redlick group (127.90 gm/day) and Vetlick groups (127.29 gm/day). Nacl (ad lib) and control groups had lower values (111.35 vs. 110.39). Since there were no significant differences between treatments among the parameters measured, feedingvetlick to sheep during summer (March to Sept.) may not be economically beneficial. It also cuts considerable doubt about the benefit of vetlick which is indescriminately distributed to farmers by the district livestock services. Instead, redlick could be a better proposition in this region for summer. Otherwise usual farmers' practice of offer­ ing Nacl to sheep every fortnight can be considered appropriate considering the cost and labour involved in other methods. However, this needs to be studied for winter (October to February)period.