TITLE:
Study on Breeding Practices and Reproductive Performance of Black-Head Somali Sheep under Traditional Management System: The Case of Awbarre District, Eastern Ethiopia
AUTHORS:
Abdi Abdilahi, Kawnin Abdimahad, Abdulahi Mahamed, Abdimawlid Ali
KEYWORDS:
Black-Head Somali Sheep, Breeding Practice, Reproductive Performance, Selection Criteria
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.13 No.1,
December
2,
2022
ABSTRACT: The study was conducted in the Awbarre district of the Fafen zone of the Somali regional state of Ethiopia. The objective of the study was to assess the breeding practices and reproductive performance of
Black-head Somali sheep under a traditional management system. Purposive and simple
random sampling techniques were used to select targeted kebeles and
households, respectively. A total of 120 households were selected from four kebeles, each of 30 households, based on the production system and sheep population.
Semi-structured questionnaires, group discussions, key informants interviews and field observations were used to generate the required data. The
primary purpose of keeping sheep was for income generation, followed by saving as a future asset. The majority (89.2%) of the respondents separated male
and female animals during herding. The selection criteria for breeding rams were appearance, growth, pedigree,
and color while for breeding ewes were appearance, adaptability, pedigree,
color, and lamb growth. The overall weaning age of Black-head Somali sheep in
the study area was 3.7 months for both males & females. The castration of male sheep was common for the
purpose of fattening, fattening with breeding control and breeding control as
well. The castration is mainly performed during the summer and autumn and the
methods of castration were both traditional and modern methods, the traditional castration method being the most
important one in pastoral areas. The age of sexual maturity was 7.64 months for
rams and 8.97 months for ewe’s male and female lambs in the pastoral area and 8.42 & 8.38 for rams &
ewes in agro-pastoral and overall lambing
interval was 11 months. On average, the ewe of Black-head Somali sheep
in pastoral & agro-pastoral could produce 9.49 & 9.57 lambs, respectively in their lifetime. As the pastoralists
and agro-pastoralists
indicated the source of the breeding ram was their own, so the exchange of breeding ram is recommended to
minimize the risk of inbreeding and further studies of on-farm performance
investigation would be necessary to be carried out so as to understand the uniqueness of the breed better.