Microlivestock Little-Known Small Animals with a Promising Economic Future (1991) / Chapter Skim
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3 Microsheep
3 Microsheep
Pages 47-62
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From page 47... ...
Some survive even the stress of extreme aridity and for this reason are the predominant livestock in North Africa and the Middle East. Many small breeds can be disease resistant.
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From page 48... ...
DISTRIBUTION More than one billion sheep occur worldwide, and they occupy every climatic zone in which people live. At least half are in developing countries.
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From page 49... ...
In the tropics, sheep reach sexual maturity in about a year. Many breeds lamb year-round, which allows for a continuous production of premium meat.
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From page 50... ...
Although the IYavajos and other local Indians had never seen sheep before the 1500s, they soon became shepherds and weavers, and their rugs made from the unique wool of this wiry little animal remain famous even today. IYavajo sheep have white or brown wool hanging in ringlets around their bodies.
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From page 51... ...
Thanks to the efforts of MclYeal and his colleagues, Indians are beginning to use Navajo sheep again; by 1988 there were more than 400 on the Navajo reservation, with their wool fetching premium prices. This tough little sheep could prove valuable not only for American Indians but for poor people in many other dry regions as well.
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From page 52... ...
They have excellent foraging capabilities and are often kept alongside goats. This broadens the variety of forages utilized and often increases total production from a single piece of land, for sheep and goats have complementary feeding habits and male goats help protect the sheep from some predators.
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From page 53... ...
Small breeds cause little erosion, even on steep slopes, heavily traveled paths, or near water holes.2 In South Asia, they have been continuously stocked on the same ground for thousands of years without causing apparent harm. Because sheep have a natural tendency to accumulate fat, they "finish" well on grazing and usually do not require a high-energy finishing diet.
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From page 54... ...
adornment wasters hoe tamed Tom chemlml deplane to 00c~ of sheep. Court decathlons in lDS5 and flags' baaed the use of herb~ldes gong Oregon Marc CoasL Idol alternates were Plea and the animals proved the most successful.
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From page 55... ...
Major meat producer in West Africa. Fast growing: by six months of age they approach adult weight.
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From page 56... ...
25~1 kg. Needing little feed and remaining constantly outdoors, these extremely hardy sheep are exploited for meat and their coarse, hairy wool.
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From page 57... ...
Another of the hardy, screwhorned "zackel" sheep common to the Balkans, they are adapted to poor pasturage and extensive herding. Quick maturing and highly fertile, they can be exploited for milk as well as for meat and coarse wool.
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From page 58... ...
That mouOon and other wild sheep could have p~cO=1 utHl~ is suggested by research at Utah Sate Unlversl~. Sck enlists there hoe mated mouOon with ~ sheep to create sheep better able to depend themselves ablest coyotes and other natural dangers.
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From page 59... ...
Genes from wild sheep are not likely to quickly benefit wool production. Lack of fleece is one reason why these creatures have been neglected, but throughout most of Asia and in north Africa, sheep are bred primarily for meat and milk, and there is a growing worldwide interest in the use of hair sheep.
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From page 60... ...
Maternal, and very resistant to internal parasites and hoof rot. Although the Navajo subsists and reproduces on little feed and scarce water in desert regions, it was widely replaced by improved breeds earlier in this century.
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From page 61... ...
An outstanding meat breed with good mutton quality, it adapts well to mixed farming and has unusually low lamb mortality. Hu (Huyang, Lake Sheep)
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From page 62... ...
red ,/~ ~; / : ~/ / / ~ ifs\ i At: AL I t~ !
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