Northern areas of Pakistan are rich in natural resources including livestock as a major source of income for local residents and landless herders. The study objective was to fulfill the knowledge gap about herder’s perception toward the relative performance and ecological adaptability of different sheep breeds and their crosses. The herds of 150 pastoralists were considered as case study to investigate their herds. The study was conducted at Kaghan valley of Mansehra district and Haripur according to availability of landless farmers during summer and winter season, respectively. Three pastoral units were selected each from Naran upland and Haripur/Attock lowlands. Herders (n = 20) were interviewed using questionnaire from each unit. The collected information were entered in to Epi-info software program (version 6.04b) for descriptive statistics. Various sheep breeds found in northern areas were Afghani, Kaghani, Crossbreed and Rambouillet. Average number of sheep belonging to Kaghani, Rambouillet (exotic), Ramghani (crossbreed) and Afghani sheep per herd were found to be 41%, 6%, 29% and 29%, respectively. Trends for keeping Kaghani, Afghani, Crossbreed and Rambouillet ram as an animal with beauty was among 28%, 40%, 26% and 16% herders. Kaghani sheep was found to be preferred by majority of population for its mutton quality. Highest replacement preference (44.3%) for ram was given to Kaghani breed as compared with Rambouillet which was given least preference (16.78%) due to its low disease resistance against our local conditions. Herders (92%) suggested that high disease resistance was noted in Kaghani breed. In conclusion, such survey studies helped in better understanding of landless farmer’s preferences about keeping herd among indigenous, cross and exotic sheep breeds.