Amani Z. Abdelgadir1,*, I.A.Ishag2 , L. M.-A. Musa3 , Safaa A. Abdalla4 , M. A. Elkhalifa4 ,M. -Khair A. Ahmed5

1Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Omdurman Islamic University, Sudan
2 Zoology department, Faculty of Science, University of Tobruk, Libya
3 Arab Centre for Studies of Arid Zones and Dry Land (ACSAD), the League of Arab States
4 Animal Production Research Centre, Animal Resources Research Corporation, Ministry of Animal Resources, Sudan
5Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics Faculty of Animal Production, University of Khartoum, Sudan

Corresponding author: amanizein@oiu.edu.sd

SUMMARY

A survey was conducted by personal interviews with 150 livestock owners in selected districts in Gezira, Sinnar and Blue Nile States and was used to gather information on Dubasi, Shugor and Watish ecotypes owners and the characteristics of sheep production in one-visit-interviews. Feeding, watering, housing and diseases prevalence were investigated. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 21. The majority of interviewees (87.4%) were farmers, followed by business men (11.3.0%), and only a few were public employees(1.3%). Shugor ecotype represented the largest population in the study area (84%) followed by Dubasi(42%) and Watish(28%) in flock size of more than 100 heads.Free grazing of communal rangelands and supplementation were the most commonly adopted feeding system. In the Gezira state the most important source of water was the canals, while in Sinnar and Blue Nile, hafirs (Ponds) were more important. The owners revealed that Pneumonia was an important disease in all studied states (46.5%). The study recommended that livestock extension and effective veterinary services are important to improve sheep production in the study areas.

 Keywords: sheep , Dubasi, Shugor ,Watish, mating system, ewe exclusion, Sudan

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