The indigenous sheep of Nigeria

There are four main breeds of sheep in Nigeria. The breeds are Balami, Uda, west African Dwarf sheep and Yankasa. Balami is most predominant in the North eastern part of Nigeria. The Balami is a predominantly white and hairy breed with a pronounced convex heat and a dull depression. It has a dewlap-...

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Main Authors: Adu, I.F., Ngere, L.O.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: 1979
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/66740
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author Adu, I.F.
Ngere, L.O.
author_browse Adu, I.F.
Ngere, L.O.
author_facet Adu, I.F.
Ngere, L.O.
author_sort Adu, I.F.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description There are four main breeds of sheep in Nigeria. The breeds are Balami, Uda, west African Dwarf sheep and Yankasa. Balami is most predominant in the North eastern part of Nigeria. The Balami is a predominantly white and hairy breed with a pronounced convex heat and a dull depression. It has a dewlap-like fold of skin with white mane. The ear is large and droopy. The tail is long. Horns are prominent in rams and are usually absent in ewes. The Balami is fast growing and attains a weaning weight of 18 kg in 12 weeks. The yearling weight is 35 – 40kg for ewes and 45 – 60kg for rams. Uda breed occurs throughout the Sahelo-sudan vegetation zone of Nigeria. It is a large and long-lopped breed with a convex facial profile. The coat colour is entirely brown or black from the forehead anterior to the limber-abdominal girth line and white posterior. The ears are long large and pendulous. The rams have large wide and spiral horns, which are usually absent in the ewes. The breed appears to thrive in hot, dry environment and suffers from poor survival outside this ecological zone; it is particularly adapted to extensive grazing and is renowned for its trekking abilities. Mature weights range from 35 - 45kg for ewes and 45 – 55kg for rams. The Yankasa breed is widely distributed in the northern part of Nigeria. In size it is intermediate between Uda and the west African Dwarf sheep. The coat colour of Yankasa is typically white with black patches around the eyes, ear, muzzle and sometimes the feet. The rams have curved horns and heavy hairy white mane. Some of the ewes have tassels on the neck. Mature weights are 25 – 40 kg for ewes and 35 – 50 kg for rams. The west African dwarf sheep is widely distributed in the southern Nigeria, the breed is small compact hardy breed with a wide range of coat-colour which may be all white, black or brown or spotted black or brown on a white coat. The breed is considered to be tolerant to trypanosomiasis. Mature weights are 20 – 25kg for ewes and 25 – 30 kg for rams.
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spelling CGSpace667402023-02-15T13:12:41Z The indigenous sheep of Nigeria Adu, I.F. Ngere, L.O. sheep breeds animal performance animal population There are four main breeds of sheep in Nigeria. The breeds are Balami, Uda, west African Dwarf sheep and Yankasa. Balami is most predominant in the North eastern part of Nigeria. The Balami is a predominantly white and hairy breed with a pronounced convex heat and a dull depression. It has a dewlap-like fold of skin with white mane. The ear is large and droopy. The tail is long. Horns are prominent in rams and are usually absent in ewes. The Balami is fast growing and attains a weaning weight of 18 kg in 12 weeks. The yearling weight is 35 – 40kg for ewes and 45 – 60kg for rams. Uda breed occurs throughout the Sahelo-sudan vegetation zone of Nigeria. It is a large and long-lopped breed with a convex facial profile. The coat colour is entirely brown or black from the forehead anterior to the limber-abdominal girth line and white posterior. The ears are long large and pendulous. The rams have large wide and spiral horns, which are usually absent in the ewes. The breed appears to thrive in hot, dry environment and suffers from poor survival outside this ecological zone; it is particularly adapted to extensive grazing and is renowned for its trekking abilities. Mature weights range from 35 - 45kg for ewes and 45 – 55kg for rams. The Yankasa breed is widely distributed in the northern part of Nigeria. In size it is intermediate between Uda and the west African Dwarf sheep. The coat colour of Yankasa is typically white with black patches around the eyes, ear, muzzle and sometimes the feet. The rams have curved horns and heavy hairy white mane. Some of the ewes have tassels on the neck. Mature weights are 25 – 40 kg for ewes and 35 – 50 kg for rams. The west African dwarf sheep is widely distributed in the southern Nigeria, the breed is small compact hardy breed with a wide range of coat-colour which may be all white, black or brown or spotted black or brown on a white coat. The breed is considered to be tolerant to trypanosomiasis. Mature weights are 20 – 25kg for ewes and 25 – 30 kg for rams. 1979 2015-06-05T12:17:25Z 2015-06-05T12:17:25Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/66740 en Limited Access Adu, I.F. and Ngere, L.O. 1979. The indigenous sheep of Nigeria. World Review of Animal Production 15(3): 51-62.
spellingShingle sheep
breeds
animal performance
animal population
Adu, I.F.
Ngere, L.O.
The indigenous sheep of Nigeria
title The indigenous sheep of Nigeria
title_full The indigenous sheep of Nigeria
title_fullStr The indigenous sheep of Nigeria
title_full_unstemmed The indigenous sheep of Nigeria
title_short The indigenous sheep of Nigeria
title_sort indigenous sheep of nigeria
topic sheep
breeds
animal performance
animal population
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/66740
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